Praise Dance

Last night my daughter had a hard time going to sleep. She was afraid of some bad dream she had a long time ago. I found out that since she has had that dream it had caused her to sleep underneath her covers making her hair one big tangly mess in the mornings. I had no idea she had been so afraid. I sat down on the couch with her and we got her bible out and looked up scriptures on fear. We also looked up the one in Phil. 4:8 that tells us to think of the things that are true, lovely, excellent, praiseworthy, etc. Carlee found one scripture in the Psalms that spoke to her and I told her that Jesus was speaking to her through His word. She was so thrilled. She loved being able to read it for herself and find hidden truths in God's word. I asked her if she wanted to pray that Jesus would take her fear away so she could sleep? She took the intuitive to talk to God and asked Him to help her sleep. After she prayed, she looked at me and said, "Mommy, I think I am ready to go to sleep now." I told her goodnight and she went to her room. One minute later she was back in the living room asking me, how long it would be until morning? It was only 9:30pm. I told her she had awhile and that she needed to trust God through the night. (she didn't want to go through the process) I told her that when she woke up in the morning that we would have a praise dance. She got excited and then went to bed.
This morning she woke up and we got to start the day off thanking God for answering her prayers. We turned on the praise music and danced before God. It was awesome to see God work through her and strengthen her faith. She didn't want to go through the motions at first to trust God, but as soon I said we would praise God in the morning for His faithfulness, she was ready to trust. Sometimes, we have to praise God for the outcome even before we go through the process. We've got to trust His way as we step into the fear. Sometimes, we have to do things afraid. It's not about the fear, it's about God overcoming the fear so we can praise. Whatever you are struggling with or are afraid of, don't let it steal your praise. Claim your victory in God and allow Him to accomplish the work so you can do your praise dance.