There is no doubt—we live in troubled times. It may feel hard to concentrate on your spiritual life when you face financial challenges, when the world seems to be in turmoil.

You may find that the children you work with and minister to are also stressed. We know of two families, friends we've developed through our kids' sports activities, who are losing their homes to foreclosure. Another friend is out of work, and has been for six months. Every time he's on the verge of getting a job, it seems, the company he's talking to will announce a hiring freeze.

The children in your care face these pressures too—watching their parents fight about money, seeing their father unemployed, having to move out of their home because their family can no longer afford the rent or mortgage.

It would be easy to give in to fear in times like these. But I want to encourage you with the commandment most often repeated in the Bible: "Do not be afraid."

What is the opposite of fear? Courage, right? But ...