Fear IS an option. Of course it is. If fear wasn’t an option, to be fearless would be sort of a moot point wouldn’t it. After all, if you didn’t have the option to fear, no one would fear. Then what would you have? A world full of heroes? No…because there wouldn’t be any other kind of people. Everyone would simply be fearless. Whew! I think I’ve exhausted that point.
So, we agree. Right? Fear IS an option.
Anyway…I’d like to share a story with you. A story about someone having fear as an option, but choosing not to give in to it.
Imagine you’re a nice-looking young woman and you’ve just gotten off work at your late-night job. You go outside to your car and find a blizzard waiting for you. You’re already tired from 9 hours on your feet, serving belligerent patrons, and now you have a 40 mile drive in a blinding blizzard to look forward to. But that’s not all…
You find out the canyon road you typically drive has had an accident that has closed off that route. You’re left with two other options. One takes you over a route higher in the mountains where you know it’s gonna be slick and treacherous. The other route is mostly downhill, through another canyon, but you’ve never driven home that way. Which route would you take?
Well, this woman chose the downhill, winding, canyon road. She was terrified of the circumstances, but she knew she had to get home to her family. So, she began to drive down the dark, unlit, snowy, slick road. Her hands were practically leaving imprints in the steering wheel.
She tossed up a desperate prayer,
“God, please don’t let me slide off into the ditch or the creek. Please help me to make it home.”
The visibility was barely 10 feet in front of the headlights, and they were beginning to dim from layers of freezing snow. Every so often the tires would slide a little bit, and the young woman’s whole body would jerk as she gasped and panicked a little. But she kept gently easing the car forward, careful to look for the white and yellow lines in the road. They only appeared intermittently.
This drive, which would normally take about thirty minutes ended up taking two hours. And by the time the exhausted young woman reached the end of the canyon and turned onto the highway, she could hardly breathe. But she’d made it through the worst…at least that’s what she thought.
To her dismay, the well-lit highway was covered in about 4 or 5 inches of snow, and it too was dangerously slick. And now she had to deal with multiple other “crazies” who didn’t seem to be slowing down for the conditions at all. She still had 15 miles to go.
As she slogged along at only about 20 miles an hour, other cars would whiz by and flop magnesium chloride-filled slush all over her windshield. But now she was determined and undaunted.
She vowed to make it home no matter what.
She did. But her accomplishment wasn’t achieved as a result of the absence of fear. It came about as a result of her not giving into the fear. Yes, fear IS an option. And because it is, we can have heroes. But even more important than that, it should highlight your need for a living, loving Savior who wants you to have everlasting Life. This life isn’t going to last forever. But this life isn’t all you’ll have if you trust Jesus. I hope you will.
You may have a blizzard going on in your life right now. And you may be tempted to give up and give in to fear. I urge you to resist that temptation and instead hold onto the promise that God gave you a “spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind“.
That won’t magically make the “blizzard” go away. But it WILL give you the courage and strength to keep driving toward home.
The keys are in your hand. It’s up to you. Ready to drive toward home?
Stay tuned,
Tony