Overcoming

What has a hold on you? Fear? Drugs? Alcohol? Regret? Shame? Do you feel like sometimes you can't even breathe because it has such a hold on you? Like this is something that you will just struggle with for the rest of you life no matter what you do? Let me tell you what I have been through in the last few days.

Before I can tell you about what I have done recently, I need to give you a little background. I have had allowed many things to control me in my lifetime. Fear, regret, shame, stubbornness, almost anything that you can think of, I've done it all. But there is one thing that I have always said that I would NEVER do. That is to fly in an airplane.

My fear of flying wasn't just some "Oh yeah, I don't like to fly" type of thing. I would go anywhere near an airport and have panic attacks. I would look up in the sky and see an airplane and my stomach would automatically tense up. I literally felt physically sick just from the thought of an airplane. I would call that unhealthy, wouldn't you agree?

My entire life I have faced danger and a lot of times with a smile. (I may not have felt the smile but by golly I'd make you believe I was ok because I was tough... in my mind). I am terribly afraid of snakes and went to the zoo determined to touch one just to show my fear that it would not control me. I've had a gun to my head. Been threatened with knifes. I should have been dead a long time ago. Praise God He saw fit to keep me alive despite my own stupidity!

Even with the personality to stand up to my fears, I always said that flying was the one thing that I would never do. I love to travel but would drive or take a boat wherever I needed to go and I was just fine with that. My fear of flying had a grip on me that I was completely comfortable with allowing it to continue. I didn't even have a desire to fly.

Then one day I started thinking that maybe I needed to try it anyway. This was just a few months ago. Then my husband, who has a wonderful way of always pushing me to be better in such a loving way said "well, are you ready to fly?" I thought maybe I'd take a short flight just to say that I had done it. He had different plans. He informed me that we would be going across the country and flying. With a layover to and from we would be have FOUR different flights and be in the air a total of 6 hours each way. WHAT?!? I have never been so excited and so terrified at the same time!

As the time of our departure grew closer, I thought I would literally die. When we arrived at the airport and I had to sit and wait to board I did everything I could to hide my fear. A few tears even slipped out! (If you know me, you know that I do NOT cry. Or at least not in public!!) TEARS!!! Just sitting there!!!! I wasn't crying, I was just so terrified that they slipped out.

Then the time came. The airline announced that we would start boarding. We were in the last group so I watched as others boarded the plane and I froze. I didn't know if I was going to throw up, pass out or what but whatever would happen would not be pretty! Then they called our group number. Would I allow fear to continue to control me? I've already told you that I'm not that kind of person. I knew that I had no choice but to step on that plane so I began walking towards the door. I went through the little tunnel thing (Hey, I'm not a frequent flyer, I have no idea what it's called ha ha) and got to the door of the actual plane. I literally froze. My heart felt as if it would fall out of my chest it was beating so hard. I could not step over that threshold! With a line behind me I stood there and faced my fear.

With every bit of my might, I stepped onto that plane! Suddenly, I felt different. Still concerned, but the huge fear was slowly fading. Just after stepping over that threshold. With my husband's help, I find my seat and buckle up. Being the gentleman that he is, he gives me the window seat so I stare out the window and wait. "I can do this!" I think. I'm still scared but am no longer thinking of running out the door screaming. After a while (What seemed like forever!) the plane starts moving. I look around like a child who is in a horror movie, but somewhere from deep inside me I think it will all be ok.

Now I should stop there and explain. My fear was so huge that before we left, I told everyone, my kids especially, to have a good funeral for me when I died. I was facing my fear but a part of me actually thought I would die (go ahead, take a minute and laugh, its ok, I do now!). At some point, my fear all faded; just that quick. By the time we got to our layover city and onto the next plane, I had no concerns and just enjoyed the flight.

My fear was irrational. I couldn't have even told you WHY  I was afraid. I had no real reason to be afraid. I am writing from the destination right now. I love visiting this state and I certainly love it's weather, but as for the ride back home, I don't mind it. I have looked in the sky while being here and seen planes and had no fear. It is completely GONE! I'm actually excited to fly again.

So that's (the short version) my story. "How does this affect me?" you might ask? Because we are all human. We all have this dysfunction of allowing things to take hold in our lives. It may be different for all of us but the meaning is all the same. Just like I overcame my fear of flying, you can overcome whatever it is that is holding you back.

How did I do it? What was my "recipe for success"? It was not my own. I stepped onto that plane because I knew that I had a choice. I could allow it to control me or I could take the reins and tell my fear to get lost. I don't want you to think that I did this on my own strength, because I was nothing more than a scared little girl, but I knew that I had a big God who held me the entire time. I spent months before the flight praying for God to give me the strength. I prayed constantly the morning of the trip. I had numerous people praying for me. My prayers were answered because He loves me and wants only good for me. I even had a wonderful friend who works for the airlines helping me with any question I had (thank God for her patience and help!!) God gave me the strength. I want to make sure to give all the glory to Him because this would not have happened without His strength!

But with that said, He also gave me a choice. Was I going to trust Him and live or was I going to chose to stay fearful and miss out on things? It took me almost 45 years to make the choice to trust Him and get on that plane. Now I feel so silly. I have missed so much by choosing to be fearful. I could have gone on so many trips and flown to so many places, but I decided to let fear have a hold on me. I was missing out on so much fun and adventure!

So my question to you is what do you choose to do? Do you want to allow whatever is holding you back to continue keeping you from living? I challenge you today, whatever it is that is holding you back, be an overcomer! Trust in God and chose to live for Him and don't let fear hold you back. You see, that flight wasn't about my safety, it was about my trusting in an amazing God. It was about me holding onto my own abilities and not living life. Today I am praising God in Arizona because He finally showed me to let go and give Him all of the control.