"My procrastination which had held me back was born out of fear and now I recognize the secret mined from the depths of all courageous hearts. Now I know that to conquer fear I must always act without hesitation and the flutter in my heart will vanish.”
Og Mandino, The Greatest Salesman in the World
In 2000 I set a goal to climb the 22-mile round trip from the Whitney Portals at roughly 8,600 feet to the summit of Mt. Whitney, which is the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States at 14, 497.61 feet. When I purchased my wilderness pass I discovered that the average person makes the hike in 14-17 hours, so I raised the bar and made the round trip in just over eleven hours. One friend told me I was crazy to make the climb but he did it himself a year later. If my feet are on the ground fear is far away. Give me seventy thousand dollars and send me to Mt. Everest and I would gladly take a shot at the summit of the tallest mountain in the world but put me on a high dive only ten feet above water and ask me to jump and I turn into; well, I don’t want to ruin your opinion of me!
In fact, I have made two such attempts and both were against my will. The second time must have been so traumatic I have totally forgotten the details, and the first time I was coerced by a football coach step after step to the diving board and it was after about ten minutes of mock jumping and begging for reprieve that I took the horrible plunge. Tie a rope to me and I will climb any wall, tree, or high ropes course, but remove my security and friend you will have a war on your hands! My fear of unsecured heights has convinced me that a leap of faith is a leap to death!
It took six readings of Og Mandino’s short but powerful book, The Greatest Salesman in the World before today’s quote about hesitation finally caught my eye. Thus far in my life that high dive experience from high school reinforced everything I believe about the relationship between fear and hesitation. I have been confronted with the fact of living too long on the pool’s edge and not long enough on the cutting edge. Bottom line: I have become way too comfortable lounging pool side, sipping a cool beverage and reading a good book by someone like John Eldredge in, Wild at Heart assuring me that I have “an adventure to live.” I bask in the sun of a good life while listening to the splashes of crazy teens recklessly jumping off the high dive, the greatest risk I encounter is having enough SPF in my sunscreen!
What in the heck happened? Where did it all go so wrong? When did I get so darn comfortable?
Many of us have lived poolside for so long we don’t even hear the sounds of the splash or notice the people living at another level. The really frightening thing is that I look so good and healthy with my artificial tan and materialistic veneer, capturing the respect of all at poolside. I rarely fail and have the respect of most of the sunbathers getting up only to the parade into the pool just long enough to “cool off for a bit.” I have been reduced to an occasional spectator, stopping long enough to excuse away this twitch of envy and falling back into my lounge chair of mediocrity.
Years ago I read a book by Chuck Swindoll entitled, Living above the Level of Mediocrity but it is so much easier to sun bathe poolside. It only took me 45 years to learn that my greatest fight is not against fear itself but the hesitation that fear creates. The times I have been paralyzed by fear began with a brief moment of hesitation. However, the only way down once I begin to climb is to either to jump in or push little Johnny off the ladder! Mediocrity is found in the comma, the pause, the “maybe later”, or hidden somewhere in the “let me pray about it”. Hesitation is fear’s greatest weapon and man’s greatest enemy to living at the highest level. To be fully alive in Christ is to be fully engaged in the moment without making excuses motivated by our thoughts of failure, injury, or public embarrassment. Trust me when I say that I have experienced all three!
What if Peter hesitated to walk on the water (Mark 14:28-29)? What if David had paused at the size of the Goliath (1 Samuel 17:4-23)? What if Paul excused away the Voice (Acts 9:1-27)? What if Moses tried to navigate around the Red Sea instead of through it (Exodus 14:13)?
All would have remained anonymous in the pages of His-story. Life is too short to be anonymous. Life is too short to hesitate.
All would have remained anonymous in the pages of His-story. Life is too short to be anonymous. Life is too short to hesitate.
