The definition of fear is “a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined.” Fear, real or imagined, can spiritually and emotionally paralyze us. It can cause us to miss out on opportunities and many of life’s gifts.
In the October 2015 issue of Guideposts, Susan Karas told her story of facing her fears in an article called “Fear Factors.”
She recalled watching the movie The Bucket List, which has inspired many people to make a list of the things they want to accomplish before they die. But Susan was too afraid of actually kicking the bucket to accomplish the many things that she wanted to do before she died.
Read More: The Courage to Confront Her Fears
Then one day her friend Donna asked her to join her on a seven-day cruise to Alaska. Though Susan would have loved to go, she let her fears get in the way. She was too afraid to fly, be on a ship and much more.
That’s when Donna told Susan, “Sue, your comfort zone is more like a prison.” Susan thought, “She was right. My fear had taken control of me. Faith was supposed to banish fear. Where was my faith?” So Susan sat down and decided to make a different kind of bucket list–a list of specific fears that were holding her back.
A few weeks later, she was off to Alaska. Her first fear to overcome was flying. She looked at her friend Donna who sat calmly in her plane seat. She thought to herself, “This is a six-hour flight, what if we ran out of gas? What good would our seat cushions do then?”
“Relax, Sue” Donna said. Susan thought, “I’ve got to control this. That was the problem. I wasn’t in control. But I knew who was.”
She silently prayed to God to guide them safely across the continent and said, “I trust you Lord.” As she prayed she felt her fingers loosen on the armrest.” While on her trip, she crossed out: fear of small, enclosed spaces; fear of heights; and fear of the vast unknowns.
Susan noted, “My bucket list was complete, each item crossed off not by an act of courage, but by an act of faith. That was the greatest lesson of this journey. Bravery was believing.”
Read More: A Fervent Prayer for Safety
What would be on your bucket list of things you fear? Be encouraged, the greatest power we have is our faith. As my colleague Ty’Ann likes to say, “When you step out in faith, you step out in God.” What fear have you overcome through faith? Please share with us.
Lord, teach me to name my fears and step out in You; trusting Your power will push me through my comfort zone.
