Fear

I noticed a little lesson about fear from watching Elijah at the fair. I'm not stranger to fear. I've grappled with it for most of my life. I can sit and take a scenario to the extreme where I'm about to have a panic attack. I have many fears that I struggle to trust God with. It's not that I don't trust the He is filtering everything through His hands, it's just that sometimes God lets things happen that aren't very fun. I know He is there. I know that He will create good from it. But, it still isn't fun! Thus I fear.

Well, back to Elijah. As I said in the State Fair Post, Elijah couldn't enjoy the carousel, because he was scared. Scared of the merry go round, go figure. He couldn't have been more safe.

Trying to muster a smile

Then later in the day, we all rode the ferris wheel. It does have an element of danger. You are dangling very high above the fair, no seatbelt, no harness, way, way up in the air. And to this ride, Elijah showed no fear. He really enjoyed this ride and was completely at ease. So much so, that he made me nervous with his complacentness.(not sure if that is a word or not??).

Standing up, not a bit afraid

In Bible study last week, the lecture was about dealing with fear. The speaker said that most of what she feared has never happened, but the bad things that have happened, she had never thought about them beforehand. Therefore, she wasn't afraid of them, but had wasted a lot of time being afraid of things that never happen. Makes sense with my life too. So, why do I fear? It's all about a lack of trust in the Lord.

I wondered why Elijah felt secure in the ferris wheel, but not on the carousel. The difference is that he was on the carousel alone. Well, John was beside him, but not holding him. On the Ferris wheel, I held him until he was comfortable, a little too comfortable for my tastes.

So, the lesson I got from this little example is that I need to realized that God is holding me, watching over me and protecting me even when I don't realize it. Just like John and I were doing for Elijah at the fair.  I also need to trust that He knows when I'm safe and when I'm not. He will lead me to safety, if I'll just let him.

Now, if He will just stop my house from creaking when John out of town on business!!!