Conquering Fear

One of the fun activities we did in Peru was sand boarding. Sand boarding is similar to snow skiing except you go down on your belly, instead of standing and you ski on sand, instead of snow. Brittne had gone before so I had seen pictures and she had given me all the details. This was the main activity Bryce wanted us to do, so they were going with or without me. I had a conflict going on internally. The side of me that still thinks I am 20 years old thought this would be a great thing to do. The 49 year old woman, who gets forced to look at reality, thought it was scary and crazy. However, as I get older, I have noticed I am developing a desire to conquer my fears. My mind was saying, “Go” and my body was saying “no way”. Then after a few caring comments from my son like, “you’re going?”, “You really think you’re going to do this?”, “This will be fun to watch!” I was determined to not only go sand boarding but to keep up with them! I was going to love it, and never show my fear! We loaded in the sand buggy and the roller coaster ride on sand began. It was great! After several times of catching air and losing our stomachs, we stopped on the top of a cliff of sand. We unloaded out of our machine and each of us was given a board. The instructor waxed the bottom of the board (so we could go faster!) and we lined up. One at a time we laid on our bellies on our board. The instructor helped us get in proper position. At this point, the board is hanging over the edge and you feel like you are teeter tottering. Yes, you are pointing straight down a large incline head (and face) first. At this point, my common sense tries to convince my pride to admit that this is too scary, and to quit and to just be content with watching the young people do it. I am pleased to inform you that my common sense did not win and I allowed the instructor to push my board down the hill. You control your speed by how much you drag your feet. It was so much fun! I was elated that I followed through and didn’t let fear keep me from trying. After all of us had reached the bottom, the buggy would drive down and pick us all up. Then we would go do it all over again on a bigger dune, and a bigger dune, and still a bigger dune! A total of six times I had to deal with my momentary fear! At the end, our reward was sitting on the sand watching the sun set over the desert. Over all, I was very proud of myself and I was so happy that I allowed myself to have such an amazing, fun experience. The icing on the cake was hearing my son admit that I kept up with them and when I compared my newly painted toenails with my daughter’s, she had worn off more polish from her toes, from dragging them in the sand, than I had!!!
Many times as we walk through life, we hit situations that are out of our comfort zone and they simply scare us. If we give into our fear, we get stuck and miss out on great experiences that God has in store for us. If we will learn to push through our fear and experience something new in our lives, we can receive blessings and sometimes pure joy and happiness. To step out and conquer your fear, you have to trust. On the sand dune, I trusted Brittne when she said how much fun it was and I had to trust the instructor when he showed me how to do it and then gave me the final push. In my life, every major spiritual decision came with a level of fear; like going to seminary, moving to Montana, moving to a hurting and recovering church, starting another new church, changing jobs, planning and speaking at retreats, writing devotions on a blog, etc. I have had to trust God to teach me, protect me, and then give me the final push. The results have always been blessings and joy. What is happening in your life that scares you? Is there something that God is calling you to do that makes you feel like you are hanging out over a cliff just waiting to fall? How much do you trust God? When you are looking at a scary situation, will you learn to trust Him to show you the way? Will you trust His push? Or will you let fear keep you out of God's plans?

In times of fear, it is good to read the words of Moses that he spoke to the Israelites after they let their fear keep them from believing the report that the promise land was good...

But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. You grumbled in your tents and said, "The Lord hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. Where can we go? Our brothers have made us lose heart. They say, 'The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.'" Then I said to you, "Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the desert. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place. In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.

Deuteronomy 1: 26-32 (The Message)