Facing Your Fears One Bridge At A Time

A few weekends ago I crossed a bridge I never thought I had the strength to cross. I’m not sure if you had noticed on my Facebook Page my new header. Well, that was all part of a very victorious weekend for me. I’m not being metaphorical I literally crossed a bridge.

It was around 4 years ago that I came out for a hike with my family, my anxiety was somewhat better but this was like being thrown into the deep end for me. I hate heights, I had 5 little kids with me and physically couldn’t protect them all (control) and I couldn’t trust my husband to keep me or them safe (trust).

I was looking forward to the hike, I was even able to stir up enough excitement and courage to go.  That all changed when I got to the bridge.

Yup that’s a picture of the actual bridge!

This bridge hung off the side of a mountain, it hung over a raging river and it was packed with people. Kids, naturally want to jump, bounce and climb up on the fence (they haven’t quite learnt to fear yet) and I lost it. LIKE PUBLICLY and OVERWHELMINGLY lost it.   I was 1/4 way up the bridge and froze, crying, yelling at my kids to get back to safety, my husband on the other side, people passing me, staring.

My hubby tried to calm me down but only enough to stop the hyperventilating but not enough to make me go on. My husband had been looking forward to this hike all weekend, we had traveled 4 hours to get there, my kids didn’t understand why and one of my children adopted fully, the fear of heights. We turned around and went home.

What a wreck.

The Bridges We Face

We all have bridges, metaphorical or literal bridges that we have tried to cross before. Some of us got half way and ran back, others didn’t try at all. However, the truth that I have learnt is that it’s never the bridge itself that is holding us back it’s what is raging in our minds and hearts.

I really felt very strong that I was to tell you that some of you have tried to cross a ‘bridge’ before and it was a train wreck but I believe God is going to bring you back to that moment and redeem it for you, get ready to cross a bridge you never thought was possible! 

The thing with bridges is that it’s never the actual bridge that is terrifying but the consequences of what we can see below. We become fixated on the raging river and the seemingly unstable crossing. We keep our eyes focused on what we can see instead of what we cannot see on the other side.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18

The truth is, a few weekends ago I crossed this bridge with zero fear  but that wasn’t the only victory. Not only did I cross it but I went four times farther up the mountain, crossing over three more sections of bridge than I had four years ago. I witnessed other people resisting to cross, mothers coaxing their children that it was safe to cross, I wanted to strongly to bend down and say “I was scared to but I promise you it’s going to be okay, you can do this”  You see when God gives you the victory and more you take the plunder back to the camp and you pass it on to others.

David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. ¹⁹ Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back. ²⁰ He took all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock, saying, “This is David’s plunder.”

Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him and who were left behind at the Besor Valley. They came out to meet David and the men with him. As David and his men approached, he asked them how they were. 22But all the evil men and troublemakers among David’s followers said, “Because they did not go out with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered. However, each man may take his wife and children and go.”

23David replied, “No, my brothers, you must not do that with what the Lord has given us. He has protected us and delivered into our hands the raiding party that came against us. 24Who will listen to what you say? The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.” 25David made this a statute and ordinance for Israel from that day to this.

 1 Samuel 30:18-25

It may not be now, it may not be tomorrow but when you fully surrender your healing and bridges to the Lord, He WILL take you further than you could ever imagine.

Woot! I did!

Sarah B