For me, each day is a battle between fear and trust. Maybe it is for you too. If we are not careful our fears can control us. They can stop us enjoying life and more importantly stop us doing those things God wants us to do.
Though I love God’s creation and enjoy swimming in Jervis Bay, I’ve heard from a friend who owns and operates the business, ‘Canoe with a View’ of the marine life that lives in our bay. Each day as I step into the waters near our home I have to overcome the recurring fear of sting rays and sharks. Each time I step into the water, I pray. Because it is not a surf beach, our beach does not have surf life saver patrol.
We do have a shark spotting plane that flies over the coast at regular intervals. If sharks are spotted they immediately sound the alarm to clear the water. But that still doesn’t stop the fear that creeps in at times, when I see a dark shadow in the water. Because our water is so clear it is easy to see anything in the water, which is one of the things I love about it. That clarity that enables me to make sure me,or other human swimmers, are the only things in the water. Of course sometimes, that dark shape may be my own shadow. Yes, occasionally I have been known to literally jump at my own shadow. More often though, the dark shape is a patch of seaweed.
But not always.
One time at Bendalong beach my husband tried to tell me it was a large patch of seaweed. I wasn’t convinced. When the dark shape moved closer we saw it was a large black ray about four feet wide. Several other rays followed. All the human swimmers immediately vacated the water and reached for cameras to snap the sight. We found out later, since fishermen clean their catch there in the morning, the rays come in each morning around that time and act like vacuum cleaners to clean up the water.
So, even though I love being able to go for a swim most days, fear still niggles and worms its way like a sea snake inside me. Daily I pray to the Lord for safety. Statistics show that a person is in more danger from the water of drowning than from a shark attack. But fear is not rational or logical and takes not a scrap of notice of statistics.
The only antidote to fear is prayer. Of course the other facts are that I take sensible precautions in that I never go out too far in the water, but stay fairly close to the shore.
But still every day is an exercise in choosing to trust God rather than give in to the fears that would stop me enjoying all God has provided here in this amazing paradise.
Is there some fear in your life that is stopping you enjoying what God has provided? Prayer is the answer. Of course that doesn’t mean it may be a one off thing. You may have to come back time and time again in prayer, asking the Lord to deal with that fear. It may even be, as it is for me, an almost daily process.
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