My family and I visited the Smokey Mountains over Spring Break. We spent a lot of time together in the car. We rode from Gatlinburg, TN, over Newfound Gap to Cherokee, NC. We also drove through a motor nature trail, Roaring Fork.
What should've been a relaxing ride observing beautiful scenery was almost terrifying for me. I'm afraid of heights. I was so focused on the plunging cliffs that I was rendered incapable of seeing the beauty. My hands and feet would get sweaty, and my stomach would feel nauseated every time we rode next to a cliff, which was quite often. Mark would laugh and tease me about my fear; but the thought of wrecking and the car diving off one of the cliffs was very real to me.
My fear wasn't Mark's fear. The fear that consumed me wasn't his fear at all. He was able to take in the beauty of the mountains, as well as the cliffs. He was able to look down and see the awesomeness of creation. He wasn't consumed with "what ifs." He wasn't terrified to drive more than 5 miles per hour on the winding roads. He was free to relax and enjoy the ride.
Fear bound me. It kept me from relaxing or enjoying the ride.
Fear often binds me from moving forward in life. Fear of messing up. Fear of condemnation. Fear of failure. Fear of conflict. Fear of the unknown. Fear. It's a prison of sorts.
Living in freedom allows me to enjoy the ride...the plans God has for me. Freedom allows me to enjoy the view. Freedom allows me to love recklessly. Freedom overcomes fear.
In many circumstances, fear overwhelms me, and freedom escapes me. Having tasted freedom and enjoyed, fear creeps back in only to overtake me with a vengeance. And the escape from fear begins all over again. The path to freedom seems to get a little shorter each time.
Oh I am with you on this one. Those roads are terrifying sometimes. I just pray and hang onto the door handle (as if that is going to help me). We just have to learn to breathe in and breathe out slowly and remember who is in control.
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