Face Your Fears and Rise Again
Facing your fears in life can be one of the hardest things you’ll ever have to overcome.
There we were, standing near this huge crowd of people. Excitement was everywhere—children laughing, families hurrying to get their place in line. My sixteen-year-old son, Jeremy, turned to me, placed his hands firmly on my shoulders, looked me straight in the eyes, and said, “I’ll be back. I’m going to face my fears!”
He was headed toward the Giant Drop—that ride that sends your heart plummeting before your body even follows. But in that moment, it wasn’t just about a ride. For me, as his mother, it was defining. I could see so much more than my boy about to conquer a thrill; I saw a man in the making—someone who, one day, would stand tall against whatever life brought his way.
And I was grateful. Because I knew, deep down, the only reason he could face his fears was because I had already faced mine.
It was one of the most vulnerable seasons of my life. God had opened my heart and begun doing spiritual open-heart surgery on me—cutting deep, healing old wounds from childhood I didn’t even realize still ached. I needed you then. I needed someone to carry me to the Father when my legs of faith felt too weak to walk.
My mother wasn’t there like yours was. I already had one child and was carrying another. And just when I needed steady hands the most, you started to pull away. It felt like I was hanging in the air—suspended, waiting to be dropped at any moment.
Maybe you’ve been there too.
Dropped by someone you depended on.
Dropped by your spouse.
Dropped by your parents at birth and placed for adoption.
Dropped by a job you gave twenty years of your life to.
Just… dropped.
And you didn’t know how you would land. You were terrified. Not just for yourself—but for the ones depending on you to stand strong. You wanted to yell, “Wait! Wait until I can get myself together so we both won’t fall!”
I know that feeling. That moment when your hopes are set so high, and suddenly, you’re staring down at what feels like a life-or-death fall.
In that moment, I remembered Mephibosheth.
“And Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the news came of Saul and Jonathan’s death… and as his nurse fled, he fell and became lame.”
—2 Samuel 4:4
Maybe like Mephibosheth, you were trying to escape one kind of pain and ended up falling into another. Maybe while you were just trying to survive, you got hurt even more—falsely accused, betrayed, abandoned, or left financially crippled.
Whatever has left you feeling broken—mentally, emotionally, spiritually, or physically—God has not forgotten you. He knows exactly where you are.
So let’s ring Mephibosheth’s doorbell for a minute:
“And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”
—2 Samuel 9:1
When Mephibosheth was brought before David, he bowed low, unsure of what to expect. But David looked at him with compassion and said:
“Fear not: for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your father; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.”
—2 Samuel 9:7
That’s God’s word for you today.
No matter where you are or how far you’ve fallen, He’s sending for you. You’re not forgotten. He knows where you live, He knows how to restore what was lost, and He’s ready to seat you at His table again.
Just like Mephibosheth, you will walk again. You will run again. You will rise and not faint.