May 22, 2020 – Click here to listen
I used to be very afraid of heights. It stems back to my childhood when we were living on the island of Guam. My father was stationed there with the military and I lived there for two years. When I was about 10 years old our family went on an outing and we went to a popular place high up on a cliff with an overlook. We were standing atop it with about a 200-foot drop to the ocean. We’d been watching two really big sharks down below working in unison to ambush bait fish. One would herd the fish towards the other and it would tear into them which panicked them into trying to turn back allowing the shark that was pursuing them to rip into them as well.
For some reason known only to him my father thought it would be funny to hold me over the cliff by my arms and act like he was going to drop me off it and into the shark infested waters. I was begging him to put me down, but he just laughed and held me there dangling over the cliff trying to scare me. Finally he put me down and from that moment on I was afraid of heights. I even dreamed about that event for years.
It took many years to get over my fear of heights, but I was determined not to allow it or anything to scare me and forced myself to get into situations where I was high above the ground and eventually, I got over it, (it took years). Today I can scamper up a ladder on a roof without the slightest thought about it or stand atop some lofty position and it doesn’t bother me in the least.
I was thinking about that event today and it reminded me of so many people I know who seem to fear everything including their own shadow. Case in point a friend of mine who absolutely loves fishing has been put on restriction and not allowed to go fishing with anyone else because his wife is fearful of Covid19. Further she has setup a tub of water filled with cleaners of various descriptions and if he goes out to get groceries or whatever he must soak his hands in that slime and then remove his clothes in the garage before entering their home. I thought it was rather comical and told him he would die of peck marks covering his head from being henpecked before dying of the virus.
So yesterday he proudly told me his wife was going to allow him to go fishing with me again. I smiled at the progress and suggested we go sword fishing. She apparently overheard our conversation and wanted to know if I had purchased a life raft for my boat and that he couldn’t go unless I had one on board. EGAD! She goes from one extreme to another in her fear. We are going to all die of Covid19 or drown or . . .
And what about my buddy’s fear of her? I cannot imagine being so afraid of my wife that she would disallow me to go fishing. What is she going to do give him 40 lashes with a wet noodle? I would laugh aloud if my wife told me I wasn’t allowed to go fishing.
“Yeah right!” LOL – LOL
I love my wife but I’m not going to entertain some over-hyped-up fear she has. The Bible tells us not to live in fear. John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. The old Greek philosopher Plato had insight into this when he said, Courage is knowing what not to fear. As for me I don’t fear dying in the least. Why? Because I know from the Bible I will instantly be in God’s presence, and I know I have an appointment with passing through this world to the next with dates set by God before the beginning of the world. What do I fear? I fear God and only God.
So how do we get over our fear. For one thing we can do the things we fear like I did when I forced myself to be exposed to heights. We should find out what we’re afraid of and go live there. No one can be free, truly free, until they overcome their fears. Dale Carnegie once said, Fear doesn’t exist anywhere except in the mind. Interestingly that is the primary battleground where spiritual warfare is fought, and these fear-thoughts are a spirit of fear put there by Satan. He wants us to live in fear, but God wants us to live free of fear. And He has promised that He is walking right with us through this life and will be with us through the next.
I saw a tee shirt one day that some guy was wearing that said “I ain’t skeered.” That seemed a little too redneck to me, but I get his point. I’m not afraid of anything I can think of and yes that includes snakes. Living in constant fear will deprive you of living life and being free. I love to be free!
Psalm 23:4
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Have a great weekend and go to church this Sunday or watch it online!