When I was a boy, I had a vivid imagination. One night I awoke and thought I saw an intruder standing at the foot of my bed. I wanted to scream but I was so afraid I couldn’t make a sound. For several seconds, maybe even a minute or more, I lay there paralyzed with fear. Finally, I managed to scream and in an instant my father burst into my bedroom. When he did the intruder disappeared and my fear fled. Psalm 107 says:

“Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble
and he delivered them from their distress.”

Father God, Your abiding presence is the only antidote we have for the fear that stalks us. As long as You are near we will fear nothing. Amen.