“Don’t be afraid!” he called up to me through the loose foliage of the tree. Our host was an experienced mandarin picker, yet he watched from the ground below as I tried my hand at harvesting the fruit.
I looked nervously around at the wispy branches that spiderwebbed out around me. My body was nestled amidst the thicker branches closer to the base of the tree, only about 10 feet off the ground. I couldn’t reach any of the mandarins from where I was, but the thought of climbing a little higher, of reaching a little farther, sent ripples of fear shooting around my stomach.
Can you see the man in the picture below (top left)? He's one of the fruit harvesters, just to give you an idea of how high we had to go to get the fruit!
I've always liked climbing trees.
When I was younger I once climbed so high that I got stuck and had to wait for my dad to get me down with a ladder!
I was fearless, pulling myself higher and higher, never doubting my ability to get back down. Never afraid that my foot would slip and that I would fall. I wasn’t afraid of the ants that spiraled up and down the branches in endless caravans. The moss and fungi that grew from the bark didn’t phase me. And I rarely gave a though to the endless creepy crawlies that could be waiting to bite my hand when I grasped the next ascending branch.
Then I grew up. And the possibilities of what could go wrong suddenly seem a lot more imposing. The Lord might have protected me as a child, but now that I was grown, I had to protect myself (as if I could do better than God haha). The entire list above played through my mind as I had battled whether or not to climb the tree.
But my friend Michael gave me some great advice that I’ve been putting into practice as of late. He said that when he feels afraid, he doesn’t shrink back, but pushes into those things. And in those moments he experiences some of his greatest breakthroughs.
And the more I confront fear when I feel it, the more freedom I find.
“For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
Acknowledging the fear I felt in the branches of that tree I whispered, “fear, I bind you in Jesus name,” and I climbed higher, no longer paralyzed and afraid as fear bowed to the name of King Jesus. After a few more minutes of climbing I was high enough to reach the fruit. The branches were slender yet sturdy and they bent far beyond the breaking point of the average tree. But the fear was completely gone and I reached out and up with a confidence I had forgotten was in me.
And suspended high above the ground I picked my first mandarin from the tree and rejoiced. This victory was about much more than just a little fruit.
Throughout the month I have pressed into fear as I've felt it. And every time I do, I am victorious in Christ.
God says that perfect love casts out all fear, and time and again Jesus says, “Do not be afraid!”
For the rest of my life, the only fear I will embrace and allow in my life is the fear of the Lord. Everything else has got to go. Fear is from the devil, and I don’t want anything to do with the things he has to give haha!
Be blessed today!
I pray that the love of God will drive out all fear from your hearts and minds in Jesus name!
Love, Michelle
