Time stretched out mercilessly as I waited in line with twenty other people. I hoped I would soon be letting go of fear.
Heights are not my friend, yet here I stood with jelly knees on a metal platform five hundred feet above a beach. The post-card Haitian scenery was lost on me because I was too busy inhaling and exhaling, trying to invoke a sense of calm. My palms felt sweaty and clammy, and my heart rate soared.
In a few moments, I would step to a precipice, let go of a metal bar, and zipline over the ocean for 2600 feet at speeds up to fifty miles per hour.
What if the contraption malfunctions? Sure, it’s working fine for everyone else, but for me? Okay, only one person before me. Would I be like the chicken in the roller coaster line and take the walk of shame back to safety?
Before I could answer that, a chipper young blonde gal motioned me forward. “Next, please.”
She prepared me as best she could. I released the bar and stepped into nothing but air. Immediately after I took that one terrifying step, my body and mind relaxed, and I soared. And I fully appreciated the beauty–aqua water, white sand, green palms, and rocky cliffs. I spread my arms like the wings of a bird. I was flying.
I almost missed this adventure because of fear. Fear has kept me from countless adventures. Fear has also kept me from starting conversations with strangers and from contributing to discussions. Fear has kept me from displaying appropriate assertiveness, offering to help someone, asking questions, and confidently expressing my convictions. Foolishly, I have allowed fear to freeze me in place on much more weighty things than ziplining.
Paul reminds us that a spirit of fear does not come from God, but our Enemy. When we take leaps of faith and step off our platforms, we experience spiritual freedom as never before—and sometimes astonishing results.
What fear do you need to let God help you overcome?
(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)
(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)
A Wisconsin native, Lauri Lemke Thompson enjoys living with her husband in the lovely Ozark mountains in Branson, Missouri. She is active in the Ozarks Chapter of the American Christian Writers and Christian Women’s Connection and volunteers for the local hospital. She authored a book called Hitting Pause, a collection of her articles and devotions. Her articles also appear in the Branson Tri-Lakes News.