The Fear of Flying

PURPOSE:
Despite our fears, we can trust God.

LOCATION:
Airplane

PROPS:
• Two chairs act as seats on a flight.
• One air sickness bag/Brown paper bag
• A package of peanuts.

CHARACTERS:
Carl: Stressed-out, phobia ridden flyer.
Danny: Confident, relaxed flyer.

TIME:
4-5 minutes

THOUGHTS:
“There is nothing to fear, but fear itself.”

I have to admit.  I’ve never understood that phrase.  If we all stood around fearing fear, we’d be trapped in a circle of fear, always looking over our shoulder, fearing the emotional reaction that comes in high stress situations.

Fear is natural.  The body naturally responds to incidents that seem life threatening.  Fear doesn’t have to be neutralizing.  That’s when fear goes too far.  Phobias in life trap people in an emotional, physical and spiritual prison.

The greatest defenders of fear are strength, knowledge and assurance.  That strength must come from someone besides ourselves.  Knowledge helps us see the truth behind our fears, not the wild expectations we have created in our minds.  Assurance calms us, telling us that everything is going to be okay.

A plane’s mechanic sitting next to us on a flight tells us that he’s confident in the future.  He trusts the machine because he’s intimately involved with all of its parts.  His knowledge of all the bumps in the road assures us he’s traveled this way before and made it.

God has done the same thing.  His strength is our strength.  His knowledge helps us see the big picture.  His son’s coming to earth reminds us that He’s walked this earth, stubbed his toe, bit his tongue, faced ridicule, felt abandonment, wrestled with an imminent death and experienced tremendous pain.  So what are we afraid of?

THEMES:
STRESS, TRUST, ASSURANCE, FEAR, CALM, PEACE