Frogs, Fear, and Faith

I do not fear frogs. At least not like my mom did.

At least that is what I thought, until . . . I had just kissed my husband goodbye and returned to work on my to-do list when I saw it.

An enormous frog! For a moment I froze with fear and then dashed for the phone. “Honey,” I half screamed, “you have to come back and get this frog. It’s on the wall beside the kitchen. It’s huge!” “Calm down, honey. You’ll be fine,” he tried to assure me.

“If I turn around, I will be very late and probably won’t find it.” As it turned out, he was right. Freaked out, or more accurately, “frogged out,” I felt thankful it was time for my hourly prayer. But “because fear hath torment” (1 John 4:18, KJV), I changed my usual prayer place. I was not going to walk past the frog. I grabbed my Clear Word, my favorite devotional Bible, ran to my bedroom, and locked the door. “God,” I prayed aloud, “I need Your help now. I know You see my fear, and You are concerned about it. I trust You to do this. It concerns my peace.” And yes, the fear diminished when I got off my knees, and honestly an hour later it had completely gone. I could even face walking past the wall.

When I did—that frog was nowhere in sight. In fact, when my husband came home, he searched for it. With his cell phone flashlight, he went through every room, closet, cabinet, and dark spot. The frog was gone. I went to bed and slept like a baby. While having my devotion the following morning, I heard something. “What was that?” I called.

My husband was going to his devotional spot and had stepped on it! Yes! The frog! It had come out of its hiding place before dawn, as it had done the day before. Suffice it to say I had a real praise service. Ellen White writes, “Nothing that in any way concerns our peace is too small for Him to notice.”* Do you have something that is causing you to fear? I encourage you to “give your frog” to God. He reminds us, “Fear thou not . . . I am thy God” (Isaiah 41:10, KJV). He is with you today, tomorrow, and forever. Go forward and face your frogs in Jesus’ name.

Claudette Garbutt-Harding

* Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press®, 1892), 100.