Jesus said to his followers, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” [Mark 4:40 (NCV)]
So don’t worry, because I am with you. Don’t be afraid, because I am your God. I will make you strong and will help you; I will support you with my right hand that saves you. [Isaiah 41:10 (NCV)]
Yesterday, I wrote about unfounded fears. Although I’m a bit of a nervous flyer, I’d rather travel than stay home, so I pray and fly. While I’m a little nervous about heights, I’d rather ride than hike up the mountain, so I pray and ride the lifts. Since my little Ziggy-like guy can easily capture my irrational fears, they rarely plague me. It’s not fear of external things like plane crashes or gondola accidents, however, that disturb me. Instead, it’s the fear that happens when I focus on me instead of God. Will I be wounded, bothered, abandoned or tested? What if I don’t succeed, reach my goal, or make a good impression? Will I be welcome? What if I make a mistake?
Recently, during his message, our pastor asked us to call out our fears. People were afraid of being honest, rejected or criticized. They were afraid of apologizing, failing and even of succeeding. They were afraid of taking risks, moving ahead, standing up for themselves, or letting go of old habits. Those are the kinds of fear that damage our daily lives; unfortunately, they are much harder than those big unfounded ones to identify and capture.
Fears like these sneak up on us; instead of being easily spotted like a butterfly, they’re more like those no-see-ums that afflicted me last night on the beach. It was nearly impossible to see those teeny gnats but they surely made their presence known. They sucked my blood the same way those tiny niggling fears can suck the life from us. And, just like the itch from those bites annoys me today, those fears are equally irritating and troublesome. While a little cortisone and Benadryl relieve the itching, faith is the best medicine for fear.
Fear is about us and doubting our abilities; faith is about God and trusting His. Fear holds us back; faith moves us forward. Fear keeps us focused on our inabilities; faith acknowledges those inabilities and puts our focus on God. Fear restricts and faith releases. Fear prevents and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure. On the other hand, faith enables and empowers us to fulfill God’s purpose for us. Our destiny is shaped by our fears or our faith. Which will it be?
Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears. [Les Brown]
We can feed our faith with the Word, rather than feeding doubt with the devil’s lies. [Joyce Meyer]
Bad things happen, unforeseen events occur, and every one of us will eventually become a fatality statistic of some kind. A certain amount of fear or caution is wise in our unpredictable world. Most of us, however, are rather selective in our fears. We obsess over things about which we have little or no control and ignore those things over which we do. We don’t want to give up control to the pilot when the odds of dying in a plane crash are 1 in 11 million but trust our driving when the odds of a fatal car crash are 1 in 5 thousand! While we are far more likely to die of heart disease (1 in 6), we tend to obsess about things like dying in a terrorist attack (1 in 20 million). In actuality, we are fourteen times more likely to die in our bathtubs and twenty-five times more likely to die by choking on our food than in a terrorist attack, but we prefer not to think about that while bathing or eating.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Life is a journey, not a destination;” I thought of that quote when reading an article about a local man who attempted an unsupported solo ski trek from the edge of the Antarctic to the South Pole. This experienced adventurer spent several years preparing for the expedition and rigorously testing his equipment. With extras of nearly everything, he was sure he’d planned for every eventuality. What he hadn’t anticipated was encountering one of the worst summers the Antarctic has experienced, an issue with a ski that caused him constant soreness in his right foot, and a cracked teapot! The teapot (the lone one he had) was the only way he could melt snow and, without it, he’d have no water. Reluctantly, he asked a support plane to airdrop a new pot and, in spite of his best intentions, the trek changed from unsupported to supported. Then, a combination of wind and foot pain took their toll. Although he’d planned on making ten to twelve miles a day, no matter how hard he pushed himself, he averaged only eight and his supplies dwindled. After over 300 miles and thirty-six days alone on the ice, he approached an area where a plane could safely land. If he continued at his pace, he would definitely need more supplies. Moreover, there was an excellent chance that, if and when he arrived at the South Pole, extraction planes would no longer be flying. Although he’d have bragging rights for attaining his goal, penguins could be the only ones who’d ever hear his boasting. Weighing his options, he decided it was time to leave. “For me, turning back is never the wrong decision,” he said.
