Have you ever been to Hawaii? Sometimes I dream out loud about visiting Hawaii someday. All the exotic beauty, unique wildlife, and general splendor of the island would be unforgettable and life-changing. However, my palm tree and sandy beach musings are commonly followed by my daughter commenting she’d never want to go.  Why?  Because she won’t go anywhere near a volcano. And as much as I try to explain that fears shouldn’t keep us from experiencing something amazing like Hawaii, and reassure her of the awesome things that would await us there, she just won’t let it go.  I long for her to see beyond the fear of the volcanoes to what she will be missing.  It seems unreasonable to me when there’s so much more to experience there!

But friends, my daughter’s fear isn’t that far off from our own fears in life, is it? Whether it’s…

• fear of the future
• fear of what people think of us
• fear of losing those we love
• fear of leaving behind a lifestyle
• fear of something new and unknown
• fears of being vulnerable
• fears for our family
• fears of not being needed
• fear of being alone
• fears of (you fill in the blank!)

Fears keep us from experiencing God because all that we seem to focus on is the volcano.  No matter how God shows us that trusting in Him and what He calls us to be will be rewarding, beautiful, and life-changing, too, that volcano keeps us right where we are, refusing to budge.  I know because I’ve been there, too.

I went through a long season of fearing to fully trust God with my future and the unknown.  I wrongfully thought to myself “I kind of like this life.  It’s comfortable, it’s safe.  It’s not luxurious, but it’s safe, and that’s what I want.  If I fully trust God with my life…if I actually present my life with an open hand to God, I don’t know what he’ll do.  And because I don’t know, I don’t want to know, and I don’t want it.”  So I held my life in my own hands with a closed fist, feeling “safe”.

But God’s an amazing, patient, all-knowing God.  He knows our fears, down to the most basic level.  He knew mine was there and that, deep down, I didn’t want to let it go (and he knows yours, too!).  And instead of responding in anger and force or through dramatic tragedy (like I feared), he began to slowly peel back the layers of fear to reassure me of his goodness and provision.  I knew my fear wasn’t right and I knew he was calling me to move beyond my fear to trust Him.  And it took awhile.  But by God’s grace, through prayer and laying my heart out to Him openly and honestly, he released me of my fear.  He helped me see past the volcano I was focused on to see the splendor of living a life in him.  Not a glamorous, luxurious, everything’s always happy kind of life, but a life of freedom, gratefulness, and purpose.

See, I do hope that my daughter will one day release her fear so we can experience Hawaii as a family, God willing.  The truth is, I’m fully confident that if she were to go to Hawaii and look back on her experience (and her fear), she’d be so thankful she let go of her fear of volcanoes to go.  I know that she’d think to herself “I may have been afraid, but I’m glad I trusted Mom to come.  Otherwise I would have never experienced this.”

From the other side of my own volcano, I urge you to look beyond -your- fear, whatever it is. Letting go of fear allows you to move forward, embrace, and enjoy what God has for you in this life. Ask Him, pray to Him, be real with Him about your fears.  He knows what they are, but He wants YOU to bring it to light.  He is trustworthy, I see that now. God has shown me that trusting Him is worth it, if only we look past our volcanoes.

What kinds of volcanoes are keeping you from full experiencing what God has in store for you?  Comment below!