When we were young, we would oftentimes sit on our Dad's shoulders. By getting on those shoulders, we put ourselves into a position that could really hurt us. But we did it anyway because we trusted our Daddies enough to not let us fall. When a young child gets on his/her Dad's shoulders, they do it knowing that their Dad loves them too much to let them get hurt. It's scary, but the love we know our Dad has for us overshadows that fear of getting hurt.
If we didn't let go of that fear and put trust in our Dads, then we would have never gotten up on those shoulders, therefore missing out on that experience.
The rest of life is so much like this example.
It's so easy to keep from doing something because we're scared. It's so easy to let our fears keep us from living.
My brother and I used to go to this theme park all the time. There was one specific roller coaster that he would always go on... alone. I would stand by and watch because I was so scared of riding it. He'd try over and over to persuade me to go and I would just tell him I was scared and sit on the bench while he had the time of his life. I would sit there and watch sadly, always loaded with regret that my fear stopped me from having that experience with my brother.
After multiple trips to the park, he convinced me to ride it. He dragged me through the line and got me into the seat where I couldn't change my mind anymore. I remember sitting there, waiting for the it to start while the seatbelts locked thinking "What in the world am I doing?"
That 1 minute, 30 second roller coaster ride taught me a huge life lesson.
It is now my favorite ride in the whole park. I love it. I rode it back to back that day and had the time of my life. I was so thankful after riding it, that I had enough faith in God, my brother (and the roller coaster designer) to keep me safe.
Not only that... but the ride wasn't even that scary. When it was over, I was thinking, "That was it?"
That moment taught me that I waste 99% of my life with fear. I spend SO much time being scared of what could happen that I miss some of life's greatest moments. Instead of trusting God to keep me safe and hold me up, I hide behind the fear that there's a chance I might, maybe, possibly get a little hurt.
Then, when I miss the moment, I regret it. And those rare occasions when I face my fears, I typically end up realizing that there wasn't much to be scared of in the first place.
This is true in relationships as well. My best friend and I have this conversation all the time. We're so terrified of giving our hearts to someone or "liking" someone. We're so scared to have feelings for another human. We fear all of these wonderful feelings because we don't want to get hurt. We don't want to put all of our heart into something and then have it end up broken into a million pieces. The pain that could come out of an experience keeps us from ever even having that experience in the first place.
God is my Dad. My fear of giving my heart to someone and my fear of that roller coaster that day are both equivalent to my fear of falling off of my Dad's shoulders. Until I let go of that fear, I will never get there. I won't succeed and I won't learn to love if I don't let myself put all of my trust in the One who is holding me up. We have to figure out that God's love will always keep us safe. His shoulders are the strongest ones, and He won't let us fall off. But we'll never experience all of life's great moments, until we trust Him enough to get up there.
I can honestly say that there has not been one moment where my fear has taken over that I haven't walked away in regret. Each time I let my fears overpower my ability to live life, I spend days and weeks wishing I could go back and change it.
I am so scared of the future. I am terrified of what could happen tomorrow. BUT, I can't let that fear keep me from living my life.... because in the end, I will regret it.
My God is big enough and strong enough to keep me safe from all the hurt and the pain in the world. And if I happen to fall off of His shoulders and get a scraped knee, then it's still okay because He is there! He's there to keep me safe, but He's also there to pick me back up when I fall down.
I know He will protect me. I know this because He loves me. His love will keep me safe. And that same love is more powerful than my greatest fears.
I think I'm starting to realize that the fear of getting hurt, hurts me a lot more than what I was initially afraid of.
I feel like a tiny, short, 3 foot tall kid in a crazy crowd of tall people. I feel small and inferior and I can't see or experience much of what is going on... I'm scared. It's time for me to let go of my fears and trust my Dad as he lifts me onto his shoulders. From up there, I can see the world... and I can fully start to live and experience life. Without fear.
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