Risk Assessment

When I was growing up we raised Arabian horses and broke them for riding. Actually, I use "we" very loosely. My dad did all the work.

When I was little he would sometimes set me on the back of a young horse before it was ready to bear the weight of an adult. The colts and fillies had to gradually adjust to having something on their back. First a blanket, then a saddle, then me. Some horses were scared by the feeling of having something on their back. Some of them were just plain angry.

I vividly remember one horse. Her name was "Lacey". She was skittish. Daddy worked for weeks just to get her to accept the blanket on her back. Finally the day came that he judged her to be ready for me. He gingerly put me on her back. He had one hand on Lacey's halter and the other on me. The horse startled and took one long sideways leap about 10 feet across the corral, taking both me and my dad with her. A moment later, as we blinked in stunned surprise at suddenly finding ourselves on the opposite side of the enclosure, we both burst out laughing.

I wasn't really scared, even though we really could have been badly injured by that crazy horse. I think the reason was that my dad had a tight grip on me throughout the entire flight.

Choosing to love is like riding on the back of that horse. I might get thrown off. I could even get seriously injured. However, I believe that Jesus was the one who put me here and he still has a tight hold on me. Wherever I go, He will still be right there with me.

Jesus never sat down with his disciples and said, "Now listen, you guys be careful out there. Otherwise you could get hurt..." Actually He did the very opposite. He promised them that if they were following Him, they would get hurt. And, He promised them that He would be with them in it.

Loving deeply is a very dangerous thing to do. It is going to hurt. Sometimes it is going to hurt a lot.
We should be wise and thoughtful about our choices; what we choose to do, who we choose to love. Goggles and safety helmets definitely have their place. I think a person should pray constantly and be sure of what God is calling them to do.

After that, it is time to let Him lift you onto the back of that horse and hold on.

This post will also be published on http://doorinthewilderness.blogspot.com/

Attacked by the Fearings

The main character in Hannah Hurnard's classic allegory Hinds Feet on High Places is a little cripple named Much Afraid.   She is held captive by her relatives, the Fearings, and engaged to be married to Craven Fear against her will.  I relate to Much Afraid.  On her own, she is weak and vulnerable and always at the mercy of her fears.  Through the course of a long journey with Sorrow and Suffering for companions, she learns to trust the Shepherd.  He leads her away from the Fearings and toward the high places.

I think that those of us who are prone to fear tend to have a certain member of the Fearing family assigned to us.  The theme of my fears is usually the breaking of relationships.  According to Readers Digest I am in good company.  People in many parts of the world fear loneliness more than anything else.  Other people are plagued by different fears.  Some people fear that they are not good enough.  Other people fear poverty.  The Fearing family is very large.

It usually happens like this; I am working away in my own little world, happy and at peace.  Then, some discord happens.  It could be a disagreement with my husband or a feeling of distance between me and one of my children.  Somewhere at the other end of the house Craven Fear has climbed through a window and is creeping up behind me.  Suddenly I feel his icy fingers around my neck, choking me.  I can't breathe.  His gravelly voice growls threateningly in my ear.  "You are alone, and you are mine."

There it is.  That is the lie that gives Fear his power.  The second I choose to believe the lies that I am alone and at the mercy of Fear, I am lost.

But the truth is, I am not alone.  My Shepherd is with me, right beside me. "The Lord is at hand." Philippians 4:5. The truth is, I do not belong to fear. I have been purchased at a very high price by my Shepherd.  I belong to Him.

Sometimes when I first feel the icy breath of Fear on my neck, I close my ears to the lie in time.  I turn to my Shepherd and grab His hand.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:6-7
   

What Do You Fear?

People around the world were polled about their greatest fear.  They were asked if they were more afraid of being alone, going broke, losing their looks, or speaking in public. This month's Readers Digest summarized the results.  People in nine out of the sixteen countries polled chose loneliness as their greatest fear.  More people in the U.S. and six other countries chose going broke as their greatest fear. 

Maybe the fact that Americans fear going without money more than we fear going without other humans exposes us.  Six of the seven countries that listed going broke as their greatest fear are "highly industrialized".  Isn't that interesting?  Those of us who have money are most fearful of losing it.  Maybe people who don't have any money anyway are wiser; they know that being penniless isn't the worst thing that could happen.

The poll did not ask people if they ever feel fearful.  It assumed that they do.  I suppose that the experience of fear is universal.  Only the degree of fear or what triggers our fear varies.

I'm curious.  How about you?  What are you afraid of?