Afraid to Fly

Mar

9

2010

My uncle Johnny owned a small airplane, and when I was 15 years old, I took flying lessons.  I absolutely loved take-offs and landings and the times that he would bank the plane and make it feel like my feet were in my stomach.  As I got older, I still enjoyed flying.  I watched planes as they flew over and think, “I should be on that plane.”  I’ve always been quietly adventurous.

Then it happened…  While returning from a missions trip in 2004, the charter plane (not well maintained) took several “steeper than usual descents” and the side door alarm began blaring, indicating that the door was trying to open.  Well, from that moment I acquired a new fear.

Out of pure stubbornness I continued to fly.  Then a few years ago, I was flying home from a trip to Costa Rica, and I remember nothing was working.  I was crying.  I was actually crying because I was afraid.  Then I cried more because I was so mad that I was crying.  It has not been easy.

I can tell you that I have flown more than ten times since then, some of them were extremely long flights, and although it is getting easier, the joy of flying has not returned yet.  The amazing thing that I have found is that God provides a peace that passes all understanding, and that is not just a cliche.  The one comfort to me on those trips has been the Word of God.  It is not just one passage nor is it just one book or chapter.  It is the act of breathing in His peace and exhaling the fear.

2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

Fear is a spirit, and it is not of God.  Take authority over fear, and fill your mind and heart with God’s Word and power.   Believe me, I know it’s hard sometimes.  Sometimes even with the Word and knowing that God’s peace is there, it’s very overwhelming, but that doesn’t make His Word untrue.  Those are the times that we allow ourselves to fear.  I want to encourage you to take each thought captive and continually breathe in the Word of God.  There is no other peace like His peace, and only the peace that God brings can overcome all fear.

Tonya is a producer for Steelroots, met her husband while playing World of Warcraft, and they are expecting their first child.

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