There’s a specific memory I have of my son, Jax, when he was younger and standing on a life guard stand. He asked me how he was going to get down. My simple response was, “Just jump, I’ll catch you.”

My answer made him nervous. There he stood staring down at me, paralyzed with fear. I was fully confident I could catch him. It was obvious that he was not as confident.

But why? I had never failed him before. I had never allowed harm to come to him. Why did he not fully trust me to catch him as I trusted myself? How do I get him to trust me? How do I get him to overcome his fear? How do I get him to jump?

Fear. It can be paralyzing. For children and adults alike. There is fear of the unknown. Fear of pain, loss, or failure. Fear of letting go, trying new things, or letting go of old things. There’s also fear of contributing beyond ourselves with generosity and passion. Fear is often not rational and incredibly difficulty to control. It is a powerful restraint that can limit us from accomplishing amazing things. It should also be said that it is not of God.

 “… God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
2 Timothy 1:7

Jump forward to just a few weeks ago when Jax was on a trail, standing beside his bike, paralyzed again with fear. He couldn’t really explain why he was scared. I am sure it had to do with the possibility of failure or getting hurt. Whatever the sources of fear were, he couldn’t overcome them. They were limiting him from accomplishing a goal.

Jax has many examples in his life of when he overcame fear. That day on the life guard stand, he ended up jumping. And when he did, he found it exhilarating. There used to be a time when he wouldn’t let go of the side of the pool for fear of drowning. He wouldn’t put his face in the water for fear of getting water in his eyes. He is now a member of a local swim team. And just last week took his first jump off the high dive.

I referenced “wins” such as these in my attempts to get him on the bike. For whatever reason, they didn’t translate. He couldn’t see how overcoming the fear of swimming related to getting on the bike. Or maybe he could, and it just wasn’t helping.

So, Jenn and I turned to the gospel. We told him this fear wasn’t of God. We told him it wasn’t God’s desire for him to live in fear and encouraged him to pray God would take his fears away.  He’s the only one that could.

Part of this lesson was about faith. Faith that God does answer prayer and will give us the desires of our heart. Jax desperately desired not to be fearful. Another part of this lesson was learning God cares about the little things in our lives like riding a bicycle.

Yet for me, the biggest part of this that I wanted Jax to get was that God wants us to be bold.  He wants us to live courageous lives.

Like David who wrestled lions and bears and took on Goliath. (1 Samuel 17:34-37)

Like Moses who confronted Pharaoh. (Exodus 5)

Like Daniel who stood resolute in the lion’s den. (Daniel 6)

Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who stood facing the fiery furnace, refusing to compromise their beliefs.  (Daniel 3:16-18)

God wants us to jump! 

He wants Jax to trust in Him for boldness and courage to get on the bike.

Just as I want Jax to overcome his fear, God desires that so much more. Because doing so will free Jax to live out the God honoring legacy to which God is calling him.

And legacies matter!