Broken Pieces: Facing Fear

“I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them.Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”   

John 10:7b-10 NLT

I am not a big fan of heights. There, I said it. Tbh…..they freak me out, and for a good part of my life that fear has been a nuisance. I’ve flown in planes. I’ve toured buildings that tower above the earth. And I’ve wrestled through taking clear elevators, driving across high bridges and risk feeling like my stomach flipped upside down and stayed there.

But here’s the thing…..I’m also a pretty determined little thing. I don’t want fear to get in the way and I especially don’t want fear to have the final say. 

The irony of all ironies? There are things that I still want to do even though I don’t love heights. I think that base jumping looks cool. So does parasailing. And once, in my life I went zip lining. Zip-lining might be the worst of all. For starters, you need to get up onto something to zip line from. Enter a high platform. Ick.  I had to “on belay” up what felt like the tallest tree of my life, only to plummet back down, on a string, and it was supposed to be fun. I pushed and pulled as I ascended growing more and more nervous with each and every foothold. The butterflies in my stomach began rioting, as each and every step took me farther and farther from the earths’s surface. I had to continually convince myself not to look down. Once I tumbled onto the platform, there was no turning back. After being harnessed up, clipped in, and double checked my helmet, I took off. And then, I experienced something I would have never felt had I stayed on solid ground. I flew.  Oh the feeling of flying! To zip through the wind, leaving the fear far behind….. was nothing short of a miracle for this solid-ground-loving pipsqueek. 

As I think back on zippy memories, it’s easier to reminisce, and romanticize the nostalgia. The adventure is what seems prevalent, and long forgotten is the fear. However, at the time, it was a very present force in the middle of the challenge to scale a problem. 

I didn’t magically ascend the tree, and then fear poofed away.  I also didn’t feel like fear was the only factor in the equation. But real or not, perceived or not….fear makes itself known. 

But so does our Jesus.  (We’ll circle back to him in a second.)

We’ve all heard that annoying adage  “99% of the things we’re afraid of never happen”  but the scaredy cat is me is like “what about that 1%?!? That means some bad things actually happen!” 

Yes. Yes it does. 

We don’t always get the answers we want. Fear is real. Sometimes the diagnosis we never wanted is pronounced. We dream of x, y, or z only to have those tender things ripped from our hopeful grasp…..and then what? We add a couple of zeros to that 1% and start acting like it’s a license to believe in fear, instead of standing staunchly against it. 

That isn’t the story our Father intended. 

If God wanted us to live in fear, instead of facing it there are many stories in the Bible, and in our lives that would have turned out differently. David wouldn’t have taken down Goliath. (He still had to face the giant.)  Daniel wouldn’t have defied mandates, and been rescued from the lions. (He still had to face the lion’s den.) Esther would not have gone before the King to save her people. (She still could have been killed for her decision.) And Peter, who took to the high seas, still got scared and faltered. I see a little of us in all of those stories, how about you? 

Sometimes we have to slap fear in the face. 

Sometimes we have to choose faith instead. 

Sometimes we have to make the ascent anyway. 

And sometimes we have to get back up, even if we are terrified. 

The thing is, fear is real, and make makes itself known. But fear is also a manipulative liar. Fear has broken down and destroyed a lot of things in our lives.

Fear makes us think things are true when they aren’t. 

Fear is smoke and illusion. 

And fear comes to steal, kill and destroy. 

And then, Jesus takes the field. 

The game changer. The Holy One. The Savior who came to destroy everything that binds us to the inferior, gifts us with breath when we didn’t even know our lungs were choking. 

Jesus came so that the ascent was possible. 

Jesus came so that fear would be destroyed. 

Jesus came to teach us that flight was not only attainable, but materialized in his goodness.

Fear doesn’t get the final say, Jesus does. 

So, which voice are you going to listen to? 

So much love, 

Joy