Exchanging Fear for Faith
Karen True
Eddie Rickenbacker had been afraid of heights for as long as he could remember. Altitude made his knees weak and his stomach sick. Then, in 1916, he decided it was time to face his fear. So he boarded a plane.
His pilot was a self taught pioneer, who built his flying machines with some auto mechanic buddies. It had only been 13 years since the Wright brothers made their aeronautic debut, so this was no jumbo jet. No 747. No MD- 80. Not even a Cessna. This was flying in its rawest form, and you'd think that only the most daring would risk such a venture.
Eddie wasn't born with a hero tattoo on his bicep, but he was born with a choice. When America entered WWI, Eddie signed up for fighter pilot training. Seventeen days later, he was assigned to the 94th Aero Squadron.
At wars end, he had logged more combat hours and scored more victories than any other American pilot. He was dubbed the American “Ace of Aces” and welcomed home as a hero. Newspapers, parades and medals proclaimed him the bravest of the brave. Eddie's response was the truest of all, “Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared."
Choose Courage
Courage isn't natural. It isn't a feeling either. It's something you choose. Ask Eddie. He'd have a query for you in return. “What would courage be if there was no fear?” The psalmist asked a similar question. “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1)
Courage isn't Comfortable
You might remember God's pre-Jericho pep talk with Joshua. Moses had died. Joshua drew the short straw, and there he was in a one-sided conversation with the Almighty telling him four times, “Be strong and very courageous.”
God knew Joshua felt neither strong nor courageous. If I'd been standing in his sandals, I wouldn't have been feeling it either. I wonder if he looked over his shoulder to see if God might have been speaking to some body building Hebrew. Or a gun slinging Israelite with an NRA sticker on his tent. Or at least someone who could still fit into their decades old camouflage robes.
I'm sure Joshua's list of New Year's resolutions didn't include leading a parade of desert campers around a fortified city. Uncertain endeavors don't usually top our agendas, but Joshua would learn that risk isn't really risky after all. When God told Joshua again, “Be strong and courageous,” He followed with the explanation, “for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9) Corrie ten Boom agreed and summed up her years in a Nazi prison camp saying, “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God."
Courageous Faith
Risk might feel risky. Courage may feel elusive. But from God's vantage point, things are never as they seem. He conquered the unconquerable. He venerated the vulnerable. He emancipated the incarcerated. And He gives courage to the cowardly and renders risk irrelevant.
You might choose to do a lot of things with your fear. You can deny it, manage it, cover it up or decide to just live with it. Joshua and Eddie didn't do any of those. They traded fear for faith and found freedom. Choose what you will, but I'm with them.
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Our Expert
Karen True is living a story that can only be explained by the God who made her. She's led women's ministries and now serves as Contributing Editor at womensministry.net . She and her husband, Gerry, live in San Antonio, Texas and home school their two children and go to church in a barn...for real!
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