Joy Thieves, Part 4: Fear

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
               - Deuteronomy 31:6

Sometimes life is scary.  I think change and the unknown future are what we find the most fearful:  loosing a job, moving to a new city, starting over after a messy divorce, finding out you have an illness, adjusting to life after the kids move out on their own, the death of a dream, or stepping out to grab hold of a new dream. Yep, if you weren't scared before reading this, maybe you are now! :)

God tells us repeatedly in Scripture DO NOT BE AFRAID. Kinda sounds like a commandment or an order, but it's so hard to obey this one because it's easy to be filled with fear. We live in the moment, making judgements and decisions based on what we can see and on the facts that we know - but God often places us in situations that force us to try to hit things we can't see with a stick that seems too short (hmmm, piñata anyone?). God's joy cannot survive in a heart filled with fear because real joy thrives on impossibly possible, supernatural risk-taking, overcoming, awe-filled, WOWZAH! loving, miracle expecting, child-like FAITH.  And FAITH is all about believing in things that we can't see and trusting in God's promises despite what our circumstances tell us... fear kills faith like a swift smack kills a mosquito: quick, messy, and final.

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
                  - Hebrews 11:1

Fear is paralyzing. Fear is overwhelming. Fear insists on being in control of all decisions thoughts, and actions.It causes us to give up, to turn back, to play it safe. Fear tells us that we can't trust anyone.... including God.  People who are filled with fear are the hardest to give counsel to because no matter how much I encourage them or tell them that God has everything under control, they simply cannot believe it. This is why fear is not of God and why God commands us to stop being afraid.

My hubby and I recently took a road trip with my parents through the beautiful mountains of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina and I had gotten it into my head that I needed to see waterfalls - and I mean I wanted to SEE them, be right up against the frothy, white-watered bottoms, at the foot of some really mammoth, sky-high waterfalls... And most of the hiking trail maps we found promised a beautiful water fall less than a mile down... that's a piece of cake right?  Hmmmmmm.

Because they apparently love me more than reason and sound judgement, Warren and Dad decided to help my dream come true, and so we headed down a path to our first waterfall.

The muddy, rocky ground that rose up before us - otherwise known as "the trail" - was crowded on one side by the mountain and completely open to a rugged, sharp drop-off on the other (I like to call that side the "cliff of death"). The fantasy I had of enjoying the sites and sounds of nature as I leisurely picked my way along the stone path, evaporated in puffs of labored breathing as I hauled myself up, not daring to look up from my feet for fear of slipping off a rock or tripping on one of the many tree roots that just so happened to raise up right in the middle of the path.  Instead of being amazed at the wonder of God, my head filled with the most disturbing images of my broken body crumpled at the bottom of the ravine. I gotta tell you, I was scared!

I had two choices: head back the way I had come or press on. At the very same moment that I decided to turn around, I heard the pounding rush of water.... there is no sound like it. Almost as deafening as a jet engine, it was a sound that I could feel beneath my feet, humming through my chest, like the ground and the air around me were alive with the flow of a powerful force.

And that's why I couldn't turn away.  My face set towards that sound, I growled and grunted my way up and over a fallen tree trunk, slipping and sliding along as I gripped the roots that hung along the mountain side to pull myself forward. Suddenly,  the sheltering arms of the woods that had engulfed me opened to a clearing dappled in bright sunlight, a fine mist hit my face almost instantly as I walked out onto a broad surface of dark, wet stone; and there some fifty feet ahead, rising like a bride on her wedding day, were the most beautiful waterfalls I have ever seen. A series of white capped falls spilled grandly out of a sheer rock face more than halfway up the mountain and over each turret it picked up more speed and spread out farther, falling in a sheet more than 30 feet wide into a crystal clear pool at the bottom. The pool emptied into several rapid-filled rivers that hurried past us and out of site.

I joined my guys as they stood by the great pool of water at the base of the falls, drinking in the site.
 Dad looked at me and his face beamed with the biggest smile. That's when I realized I was smiling like silly, too, my face almost aching with the force of it. We had done it and every misstep and calculated risk was worth it.

Fear keeps us from experiencing those crazy, awesome "at the foot of the waterfall" moments in our lives. I have a feeling that many of us over the years have turned back or given up right before the sound of the waterfall could reach us because of fear.... I know there have been times I probably have.

There are dreams we have thought were out of reach, that we have insisted God has held back from us, but it in reality it is the hand of fear, worn like a glove over our own, that has paralyzed our fingers against reaching out for it.  If we allow fear to control us, we cannot blame God or others, but only our own hesitant, doubting heart.

Overcoming fear is as simple as coming to Jesus - no more excuses, no more defensiveness, just placing all of the energy it takes to resist Him where it belongs - back in His arms. Then, fill your mind with the Word of God - His Word is alive and cuts out the sin and fear in our lives. Then, ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit, because His Spirit casts out fear.  Put your faith into action by taking a risk today - make plans to take steps towards that college degree or that ministry or that move.  Pull yourself ever closer to the sound of rushing water, press on, and don't turn back.