The wind was blowing. Looking at the beam above me slowly dropping but as it did it was turning in the wind. I signaled for the crane operator to bring the load line down slowly. We were on the 8th floor connecting beams to the already erected girders. Five more and this floor would be done.
I was standing on the 10” flange of the girder holding my body against the wind and ready to grab the tag line which was tied to one end of the beam now 10’ above me. My partner across the way stood motionless looking up also watching as the beam turned in the wind. Suddenly, it dropped five feet then as if the operator hit the line break it jumped. I yelled into the radio at the crane operator, “What is going on?” and added a few choice swear words. There was a static silence. Then he said, “Sorry, mate, but I can’t seem to control my line brake.” As he said this the beam dropped again. My partner and I almost at the same instant took off running along our girders seeking the safety of the nearest column. As I reached it and was wrapping my arms around, I heard a crash. Looking back the beam had hit the open deck area not far from where I was just standing.
Above us from the tower crane a warning siren started screaming. The beam continued downward and coming to rest by crashing into the 7th floor deck. This was followed by another thud as the head ache ball landed on the beam. Sounds of panic and confusion came from below and I heard someone call to me, “John, you guys all right?” All I could do was nod my head. My arms were frozen to the column. For the first time in my young career as an Ironworker, I was afraid and was wondering what I had gotten myself into.
I think fear is one of the strongest emotion we have. And I know it is good to have a certain amount of healthy fear. But in our world today there seems to be an ever-increasing list of things that we should all be afraid of. And the truth is that when we look at life from a human perspective we might be tempted to just stay in a dark room with the curtains drawn and the door locked. The cool thing is that we have a God who understands this and in His Word, keeps telling us over and over, we have nothing to fear as long as we are trusting Him.
The truth about fear is that it is the opposite of faith. It is God’s desire that we walk in faith. But we have an enemy who loves it when we walk in fear. It really comes down to who are you going to believe. A God who has promised, “..do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41: 10) Or will you believe the one of whom Jesus said, “When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8: 44b)
In my case most of the time my fears have come because I refused to believe or accept the idea of a loving God. I chose to live a life where I gave the control to the father of lies. But as soon as I was willing to accept Jesus and believe His Word, fear has not been able to rule my life.
For sure I cannot say that I still do not have times of fear where I find myself listening as Satan whispers to me that God really cannot be trusted. Or even worse that I am not worthy of being a saved man. Those times still happen. I just wrote about one of those times in my last blog. The difference in my life now is that God has proven so many times that I can trust Him and I know if I do the fear will be replaced by faith. I know it will happen.
I guess for most of us the last and greatest fear is death. These days because after 11 years in remission I see signs that my cancer may be making a comeback. I have had nights where I do feel that fear of death. But when that happens I can trust in a promise which brings me peace every time. If I am dead or alive when Jesus comes, I know this is going to happen: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God, And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so always be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17) When I believe this not even death can cause me to fear.
I went on in my career to have more than that one close-call. Fear seemed to permeate my life. Then I found the one who promises when our seas are stormy and we are hanging on in a sinking boat, “Take courage it is I, don’t be afraid.” (Mark 6: 50) What have we got to fear? Not a thing. How cool is that!
Blessings John
9/6/17
Fear not, it is Jesus…
