ONE WAY TO FIGHT FEAR OF FLYING

Janet Chester Bly

Copyright©2008

My first rides in a plane did a number on me. I get very spiritual walking past a cockpit. I pray for the pilot, co-pilot, flight attendants, and each of the passengers. . .for alertness and protection. 

After all, if they stay safe, so do I.

“Lord, there might be a bomb on here.”

“I will be with you,” he says.

“Lord, that guy over there looks like he could be a hijacker.”

“I will be with you.”

“Lord, what if this huge bucket of bolts and metal dips for the ground at umpteen miles an hour?”

“Then, I’ll carry you in my arms straight to my home, where there’s no bomb, no hijackers, and no need for planes.”

One time I fashioned a fear-breaker course of sorts. I forced myself to walk back and forth across a nearby highway overpass. This helped me face my worst fear scenario – height with movement beneath. . .or getting close to edgy space with potential to fall.

A friend held my hand and kept saying, “Don’t look down. Keep your eyes on that building on the other side.”

I did it for a season, with firm determination. And it helped some. But I’ve got no plans to hang glide or bungee jump anytime soon.

Sometimes the biggest leap of faith is to trust God’s outstretched arms. . .that he'll catch you, carry you, keep you.

Strengthen the weak hands, 

and make firm the feeble knees. 

Say to those who are fearful-hearted, 

‘Be strong, do not fear!’  

(Isaiah 35:3,4 NKJV)

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What action have you initiated to take the edge off a phobia or fear?

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Free download of "31 Days To Win The Fight For Personal Peace" available on our website: http://BlyBooks.com/articles.htm/ 

COPING WITH HIGHER & HIGHER

Janet Chester Bly

Copyright©2008

In a rush to get to my 20^th floor room at the Fort Lauderdale, Florida hotel, I didn’t realize until the door shut: glass elevator!  Distracted by the beautiful surroundings and excitement of the moment, one of my fiercest fears rudely intruded. I don’t do moving heights too well, especially when I can view it happening.

My traveling companion quickly surmised the situation. She turned me around, pushed me against the one solid wall. I shut my eyes and tried to quell the rising panic.

Since I was the main inspirational speaker for the womens retreat, I didn’t think it too cool to take up the director’s offer to move to a main floor room. A coward's choice. Surely I needed to provide some sort of courage model. Determined to conquer the descent and ascent … if not with aplomb, at least with a sort of coping mechanism intact … I walked (okay, sometimes I crawled) down the very narrow hallway that overlooked the lobby far, far below … to get to my room.

I did survive the weekend … by taking as few elevator rides as possible, by seeing how long I could go without squeezing my eyes and hang gliding on the door. The best part … this trial provided great fodder for my talks. The laughter and teasing even softened the terror.

“I asked the Lord for help, and he saved me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4 CEV).

Note: I’m reading a wonderful devotional book for 2011: Max Lucado’s Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear … so helpful for life’s dreads and disquiets.

Download the full article, “31 Ways To Win The Fight For Personal Peace,” at http://BlyBooks.com/articles.htm/

FESS UP TO YOUR PHOBIA

Janet Chester Bly

Copyright©2008,2010

Everybody’s got one. Even the rich and famous.

Movie rags claim Billy Bob Thornton freaks out when around antique furniture. He won’t stay in a hotel furnished with them.

Caution: Snake Area

Johnny Depp and Diddy both fear clowns, a condition known as coulrophobia.

Indiana Jones can’t abide snakes.

Others declare their panic at disorder and become natty neatniks or obsessive-compulsive.

Sometimes we call these conditions pet peeves or obsessions. When does it get to phobia stage? A phobia is “a persistent, abnormal, or illogical aversion or fear of a specific thing or situation” (The American Heritage Dictionary).

Hang-gliding

I certainly have mine. One thing for me. . .I can’t abide heights, especially while in a moving object. . .like a glass elevator, cable car, ski lift, hot air balloon. Or go hang-gliding! On the other hand, I've learned to relax, most of the time, in an airplane. Just don’t let there be turbulence. . .or, horrors, a transparent bottom.

Some fear is good. To stay alert. To be cautious in where you go, what you do. But paralysis to the point you can’t think or act. . .not so great.

Make a measure of peace with your most freaked-out fear. Especially if it prevents your being all God created you to be. Easy to say. Hard to do. Ask God to help you. To come to gritty grips with it. With his presence, his power, his purpose.

“Lord, calm my heart. Ease my mind. Give me one practical action to  fight this giant with a slingshot.”

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"Do not give way to fear" (I Peter 3:6 NIV).

What do you dread? What makes you apprehensive to the point of extreme angst. . .or terror? Do you dare even name it? And when you do, what have you done about it?

Download the full article, "31 Ways To Win The Fight For Personal Peace," at http://BlyBooks.com/articles.htm