Guest Post by Author Lauri Lemke Thompson
“God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” II Timothy 1:7. (NKJV).
Time stretched out mercilessly as I waited in line with twenty others. Heights are not my friend, yet here I stood with jelly knees on a metal platform 500 feet above a beach.
The post-card-gorgeous 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 be expected to step to a precipice, let go of a metal bar and zipline over the ocean. I’d be zipping for 2600 feet at speeds up to 50 miles per hour.
What if that strap contraption malfunctions? Sure, it’s working fine for everyone else, but who knows?
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 my grip on the bar and stepped off into nothing but air.
The instant after I took that one terrifying step my body and mind relaxed, and I soared. I was able to fully appreciate the beauty – aqua water, white sand, green palms, and rocky cliffs. I spread my arms like the wings of a bird. I was flying!
What an adventure – one I almost missed 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, from offering to help someone, from asking questions – and from confidently expressing my convictions. How foolishly I have allowed fear to freeze me in place on much more weighty things than ziplining.
But when I have taken a leap of faith and stepped off my platform, I have experienced such freedom – sometimes with wondrous results. I am gradually learning that a spirit of fear does not come from God.
What marvelous things might lie ahead as I practice taking more risks?
“Again! Let’s Go Again!” I ended up begging my husband at the zipline. I never imagined I could feel that way about something I had feared so much.
Is there one fear you could try to let go of today? Take the risk – I think you’ll be glad you did, and you will have a spring in your step.
“How little can be done under a spirit of fear.” — Florence Nightingale
A Wisconsin native, Lauri Lemke Thompson appreciates living with her husband in the lovely Ozark mountains in Branson, Missouri. She is active in Christian Women’s Connection (Stonecroft) and the Ozarks Chapter of the American Christian Writers. She published a book called Hitting Pause, a collection of her articles and devotions. Her bimonthly column appears in the Branson Globe newspaper.