How does fear cause you to miss out?
I watched my 82-year-old friend dive into the summer lake while I sat in the boat with my fear.
As a child, it was ingrained in me to be afraid of deep water, and I never had swimming lessons until I was in high school, and then only for a short while. This, and not having much access to swimming pools, created a fear of deep water in me.
I remember one vacation watching my family enjoy the lake, jumping off the boat, tubing and waterskiing. It looked like so much fun. They said you couldn’t sink if you wore a life jacket. So I thought I’d give it a try.
My strategy was to slowly slip into the water and trust the life jacket to hold me up.
It didn’t go as planned. As soon as I hit the water and my feet found no bottom, my mind went wild with panic. My body stiffened, and there was no breath in my lungs. My arms flailed, grasping the edge of the boat, my eyes wide with fear.
With a firm hold on the boat, I began to relax and breathe, but the incident reconfirmed my thoughts that I’m better off in the boat than in the water.
Some fears are irrational and even ridiculous to others, but that doesn’t make them any less real to the one who has them. We all carry different fears for different reasons, but fear will always make us miss out.
What do you fear?
Like my fear of deep water, some fears can be conquered by practice, lessons, and brain retraining, but some fears can only be defeated with trust.
Our desire to control the path that our lives take is a slippery control, and losing hold of it can be the cause of debilitating fear.
The last few years have revealed some of these fears, as our world has spun out of our control in so many ways, leaving us without plans and next steps. When I fear losing control, I miss out on peace. The secret to peace and living with less fear is daily (sometimes minute by minute) placing all our struggles, worries and doubts before our Heavenly Father, who knows us intimately and holds all things in His loving hands.
He is the solid footing my feet can find when the waters seem too deep.
Isaiah 41:10 NIV
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
