Fear.
It's a horrible feeling, isn't it? When you feel like you can't do something, or that something may not go as planned, or that you may get hurt in the process of doing something. When you're faced with something that scares you to death, you have two options. First, avoid it. Ignore it. Take the easy path. Now while you may be safe, comfortable, and in control, what have you really gained? Second option: look whatever your scared of in the face, and then go nuts. Jump, leap, fall, run straight into the thing you fear most. Sure, you may get bruised, shaken up, or a little battered but in the end even if you didn't neccesarily conquer what you set out to, you did conquer one thing that is such a restraint in so many lives. Fear.
Last weekend a few friends of mine and myself went out to Heber Springs and went cliff diving. AHH. Talk about scary. You climb 30 feet in the air, to walk to the edge of a cliff and well, jump. Into the water, the unknown, and whatever happens to be below. Now while most Arkansas kids have had this experience before, I never had the priviledge of doing this before now. But me being the extraodinarily competetive person I am, was not about to let those boys show me up. So I marched right up to the edge, got ready, and stopped.
"Are they crazy?!" "Have they seen how high this is?!"
"They must be nuts if they think I'm jumping off this thing!"
Those were just a few of the thoughts running through my mind (and the nicest of them as well) as I looked over the edge into that water. I sat there thinking this is NUTS! over and over again. Then slowly but surely my friends began to leap off the cliff and I knew I couldn't just stand there anymore. I either had to go, or climb down.
So, I jumped. And screamed. The entire way down. It was absolutely terrifing, and thrilling, and most of all a major adrenaline rush. And of course something I plan to do many many more times in my lifetime.
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7
How many times in a day does the Lord throw opportunities our way? If you look back at even just the last week, I guarantee you could pick out quite a few. I know I can. I can also attest to the fact, that I have not so sneakily dodged most of those opportunities. Chances to share my faith and my love for the one true Lord with those that aren't so lucky to know the truth. "Oh well I'm in a rush, maybe later." or "Well, I know she's closer friends with another believer, I'll let them take care of it." or maybe even "Lord, PLEASE don't make me do this! It's scary." Fear. Timidity. Not following the plan that the Lord has laid out for us. I see all of those in my excuses, but I'm not seeing a whole lot of power, or love. So as much as I want to challenge everyone of y'all, just know I am also writing this as a challenge to myself. Get up, and go DO something about this. Take control of the fear in your life. Beat it. With the Lord on your side you can take on anything, no matter how big it seems. Even though you may get a little bruised or beaten up (much like my legs from cliff diving), just remember that in the end, it's worth it. Not only will you be made perfect in God's image, but your life will no longer be wasted away by fear.
"Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive -- the risk to be alive and express what we really are." -Don Miguel Ruiz
Today's Soundtrack: Glee Cast Soundtrack
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