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| Pressing On.... In the face of fear |
| 07/22/2010 |
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| By MARCIA DAVIS-SEALE
Young Jake's back.
For a few days he was lost&somewhere on the streets, along the rural roads, in the wild.
In his fear, he bolted toward all that he feared most - being hurt, homeless, alone, hungry, scared, vulnerable, and in danger. He ran from the dark and unknown into the dark and unknown.
He'd already suffered terrible loss.
And afraid of more loss, he created that loss for himself, needlessly.
He took off July 3 in a dead run to nowhere as the night fell and the fireworks show commenced out at the lake.
He ran away from those who would love him, care for him, and support him in his grief and fear, and help him walk out of it and into the future.
Daily they looked for him, prayed for his safe return, drove through the countryside, and hoped for a phone call reporting that the youth was safe-that someone had spotted Jake's silky head of rusty-blond hair and his lean frame in flight along the highway toward town-and the caller would be returning Jake safely home soon.
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I've run like Jake before. I know so many people who have run like Jake, and are still running.
So many times, we turn away from that and those we should be turning toward.
Fear paralyzes us and alters our judgment. Why do we so many times listen to our fears more closely than we listen to the one that is stronger than anything we could ever fear, understands our quivering hearts, and loves us unconditionally through our weakness and our strength?
A good friend of mine wrote a book on fear, and the battle between fear and faith. The book's first printing "Trials to Trophies" has gone into the publishing process for its second printing with a new title, "Shields of Strength."
This friend, Kenny Vaughan, is a world-class ski-jump champion, who kept failing in ski-jump competition, not because he wasn't capable of winning, but because he was afraid he wouldn't win. He lost and lost and quit, and competed again, and finally won, because he decided to risk giving all he could in a situation in which he found that all the odds were against him. His story inspires and encourages and puts the weight of man's trials in God's capable hands, where it belongs, along with the fears. Kenny chose to let God turn his trials into trophies by learning to hold on tighter to his faith than his fear.
Kenny not only won the world-class championship competition, but God took Kenny's faith victory over fear, and is using it these many years later to inspire millions of folks across the world.
Kenny's story encourages us to confront our fears with the light of our faith in the face of uncertainty, loss, challenge, illness, bankruptcy, unemployment, catastrophic disasters, and in the midst of seemingly no-win situations and against impossible odds of every kind.
The Shields of Strength (scripture-inscribed dog tags) that Kenny distributes as symbols of the power of faith over fear have armed America's military and their families since our troops first deployed to Afghanistan after 9-11, and have been and are worn by a great many of our country's top leaders.
Kenny has shared his story at the Pentagon twice. You can read more about him at http://www.shieldsofstrength.com/story.cfm .
Perhaps this column gives Jake the chance to inspire.
Risking reader ridicule here, I must admit that Jake's a dog, a small-statured golden retriever whose owner was killed in a house fire just a few weeks ago. He's naturally friendly, but was terribly frightened when the fireworks commenced, and the fear won out over the friendliness. Okay, so he's a dog, but that doesn't have to make his example any less relevant for us. I guess the fireworks sparks and the smell of smoke and the noise reminded him of that horrible fire in which he lost his master, and he was afraid of more loss. Rather than dreading loss, he made it happen.
But Jake came back! Several mornings after he ran off, he showed up at the camper door of his master's friend, who had adopted him. He was hungry, exhausted, covered with ticks, and dehydrated.
Jake, we can learn from you, not to run, but to stand firm in our faith against our fears - of the unknown, of the noise in the darkness, of getting close in relationships, of calling, challenge, and opportunity and of loss.
I think dogs learn to have faith in their earthly masters, but we have an edge on them, because we have a chance to have faith in a Heavenly Father that never leaves us and, if we're willing, will show us how to hold on to our faith in Him tighter than we hold to our fears. Ultimately, if we allow Him, He'll help us overcome our fears, and become not just winners, but sources of inspiration for others to live, likewise, in faith instead of fear.
I'm definitely for letting God take a tighter lead on my life, and, instead of running, letting God help me face my fears with a bolder faith. That's most surely a new trick this old dog thinks is well-worth sniffing out! |
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| Story originally published in
Daily Tribune
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