FACING YOUR FEARS
When I was a child we had a garage apart from our home where my father used to do bodywork on vehicles as a supplemental income for our family. And for a family that total to 9 people, the income came in quite handy!
As a child, that garage became the center point of many games and adventures for my siblings and me. One of those adventures was using a ladder to climb to the roof and then pushing away the ladder, thus forcing us to jump off! (We didn’t have PS3 in those days) The roof of the garage was not that tall; I believe it measured to about 12 feet. But to a child that might as well have been 24 feet!
All of my other brothers made the jump accept me. It was the “what if” thoughts that invaded my mind which caused me to freeze. Fear gripped me and prevented me from taking the leap. Sure…there were risks involved and it even appeared to be irresponsible. I had many reasons why I should not have taken the leap.
I am certain that the best thing that can happen to us is for our fears to be realized so we can realize the thing we feared wasn’t as bad as the fear we felt. Many times the Lord will lead you to places where “a leap” is required. And the funny thing is He will always remove the ladders of retreat!
I had no choice; I had to face my fears! The fact is we have to face our fears because we will always grow to the level of our fears and no further. Today, I find myself there again, on top of “the garage,” facing my fears and knowing very well that a leap is imminent.
In closing, I finally did take that leap off my Dad’s garage and at the end it really wasn’t as bad as I thought, as a matter of fact, it was quite exhilarating! It only opened the doors to greater heights!
Anxious to read your thoughts,
Pastor Manny
This reminds me of my fear of roller coasters. A few years ago when I was on a youth conference trip, we went to six flags in Atlanta. The first thing I noticed was a huge roller coaster called, The Goliath. I already decided in my mind that I wasn’t going to go on that ride after a slew of scenarios popped in my head. At one point, everyone went on the ride except me and my brother. With that I said, I will go on this ride despite the uncertainties and fears. Even though I was able to see the whole city of Atlanta from the height of the coaster, it actually wasn’t that bad. The same thought process that caused me to eventually go on the ride is what I need to apply to life’s situations. The “what if” thoughts constantly roam my mind but I have a choice to stay in that fear or just go for it.
Nice!
I can relate to this immensely, although if I my add. The Lord has put us in places of our life that was like. The man on the high wire act in the circus many feet of the ground he goes back and forth with no problem with a net at the bottom just in case of a fall. Then the pressure is on he puts on a blind fold and they remove the net. The MC tells everyone to be silent for this dangerous step that high wire walker is about to take. As he begins it’s like your there with him your breath is shallow for fear that this will throw off his balance and plunge to certain death. In your mind you know that he has done this before, but it never gets easy, for “what if” this time he slips. He makes it to the other side and great cheers ate given and you are breathing a easy now. The “what if” in life can certainly prevent you from fully experiencing what God has for you, fun, excitement, and dangers. In the beginning it my seem daunting, but when you get to the other side it’s time to celebrate!!
Fear can sometimes be healthy, keeping us from putting ourselves in danger- but most of the time fear is downright crippling. I have been in situations before where I have let fear and the question of “what if?” stop me from moving. But in the times where I have pushed past the fear, the feeling of triumph over the situation was well worth it. As we learn to face our fears we also encourage others, who may encounter the same question of “what if?”
WOW!!!!….so true!!!
Well Pastor thats a good one it takes me back when I had to speak in front of the people I could never do that because my fear was that people will laugh at me. so when I got up there the “what if” it can stop you from going foward. but when I got up there and I did the assignment it felt pretty good and I learn how to speak in front of people.
I have lived all my life with the “what if” letting my fears get in the way of many lost opportunities. Never seeing the positive but always the negative. Today, I can truly say that I am facing every fear that might try to get me. I am trusting God knowing that if he is allowing me to get this far he will not allow me to fall. I am relying totally on him. I want to receive everything God has in store for me and not loose any opportunity.
I think I know the feeling pastor; the Fear factor. My comparison to your story would be the times as a boy when I climbed either my grandmother’s big mango or plum trees and then, from way up there, having to jump down about ten feet. You know…, you never really thing you can do it, until you do the ‘nikey’… ‘Just do it!’ Well, yet again sir, I appreciate this message, so for now, just keep blazing a trail of faith for our church to follow.
“We will always grow to the level of our fears and no further” I guess that means greater the fear, greater is the growth. Some times you really cannot see the way out of where you are and you must make a move. Very hard but always rewarding.
Leverage fear. When fear arises something great is on the other side of it. Either our devastation or God’s glory. Nevertheless it’s an emotion / feeling to be embraced, and an alarm to proceed only through fervent prayer…faith and courage in the same power of deliverance that raised Christ from the dead. That power is alive in us.
Funny how kids without video games would find “real adventure” to entertain themselves and as consequence learn valuable lessons…
I used to do the same thing when I was about 8-10. The roof of our garage was made of concrete, so we would not just jump from the edge of it, but the real challenge for us was that we would run on the roof and jump to see who could jump further. Until one day I jumped without the necessary attention and almost broke my 2 legs and had to stay on the floor for some minutes having trouble to breath. That was not the last time jumped, but I never did it without focusing on what I was doing.
I learned that the lack of respect for my limitation was as dangerous as the fear that paralyze.
The good thing as that with God their is not limitations, only the ones we put.
I enjoyed reading all of the responses. Sometimes we forget and feel alone in our fears and dont realize that its part of the growing process. Being the only girl in a family of 3 boys I did my share of crazy stunts lol. The crazier the better, sometimes I wonder where did that go as the years have gone by and adult hood set in. Adventure is Gods written story that you must play out. I could either be an audience member, or in the cast acting out the script already written for me in heaven…. God help me with my stage fright and let me live it out…
Yeah, I definitely would not have jumped off the roof. My Uncle did make me climb this really tall fence once and oh how I was mad at him for that. But I did climb it, I made it to the top and I got down without falling. I ripped my brand new shorts in the process but I made it. For me, I haved always went towards caution. But it was fear all the same and in that fear I shut myself in a box. I think by doing that, you do stop that growth that’s supposed to take place in your life. I don’t want to miss my place because I feared to take a step towards it. Hope that makes sense.
When I was growing up and spending my summers on an island,
I did not have any fear in me. Four of us would take a
row boat; two rowing and two swimming two miles across
the ocean to get to the mainland. I never thought of
what could be swimming underneath me. I believe that GOD
was surely watching over me.
With the pain and abuse that I took in my first marriage
I learned fear. I still have alot of causion in so
many things but I am always looking up and reaching out
to hold GOD’S hand for HE is the One I can alway trust.
Fears are good and bad, the thing in common is that it limit us. Because of fear I didn’t answer back to my parents and it limited me to be submitted under them. They controlled my life because I respected them and fear that I was going to lose their trust. The same way, when we fear to take that step of faith to reach someone, or make the step to get a promotion, or anything that requires risks. We limit ourselves. But I believe that God will always challenge us, so that we can be dependable on Him, and that the fear of doing something He said, will become a fear if we don’t do it.
I think one of the things that I regret in life are not taking some of the risks. I think now I am not as scared to take risk as I was growing up. There is nothing like that feeling of accomplishmen when you step out on faith and just believe God.