Overcoming Fear

There I am...learning how to fly!

Recently, I traveled to Moab, UT with six of my friends for the annual "Man Trip." All seven of us loaded up in a Honda Odyssey minivan which was towing a trailer full of our mountain bikes, camping gear, climbing gear, and enough food to feed a small army. The smell of adventure was in the air!

Riding this "Slick Rock" was challenging, but fun!

I knew this trip would push me to my physical limits, but I never could have imagined how many times I would have to look fear in the face. Riding a bike on level ground is one thing...flying down treacherous trails that are so steep you have to hang your butt back over your seat and almost rub it on the back tire, is an entirely different game.

On top of the world with some of my great friends!

I spent a lot of time praying and asking the Lord why I have so much fear...what am I afraid of? One day, shortly after returning, I was reading in 2 Corinthians 5 when I came upon verse 4. It says: "For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life." I meditated on the idea of mortality being swallowed up by life for several days. It hit me that I have been thinking backwards. I have held this present life as a treasure. If when we die, we are swallowed up by life, then we must already be dead. We are not alive with death to look forward to...we are dead with only life to look forward to.

Following that train of thought, how can a dead man be offended, or embarrased? What does a dead man fear?

Soaking up the beauty of God's creation.

These thoughts are transforming my way of thinking and the way I view reality. As we prepare to travel the world...as I lead my wife and children away from the comfort and safety of modern day America, some would question me. What about the sickness and diseases you will face? What about the danger you will encounter?

If the worse that can happen is that I finally get to give up this death and experience real life...than what do I have to fear?