He was as adorable and fluffy as any stuffed one I’d ever seen, and I really wanted to get closer for a better look. Or at least I did until I heard the footsteps of something quite large just over the side of the hill. Assuming it was Mama Bear, Buddy and I sprinted off.

We had gotten to a safe distance, with nothing scary following us, and I mused about how lucky I was to have seen the baby bear and not the mama. I was barely paying attention to the road when suddenly two massive turkeys swooped down from a tall tree next to me. My startled feet shot right off the ground and I instinctively started running again. Do you know how big a flying turkey is? My heart rate jumped so high it felt like a fluttering hummingbird in my chest. The giant birds landed in dense grass a few hundred yards away, completely oblivious to my frightened presence.

The rest of the walk was comparatively uneventful, and when I got home and checked my Fitbit step count, I was surprised to find a much higher cardio score than usual. It turns out the two episodes of pounding heartbeat increased my oxygen use and therefore my fitness score for the day!

Isn’t that often true in life: the things that scare us turn out to be good for us?  That colonoscopy we’ve been delaying finds treatable cancer; the conversation we’ve been avoiding brings healing; that strange food we resist turns out to be delicious; the struggle God won’t take away turns out to be the very thing that brings us closest to Him.

I’m not saying we should pet a baby bear, but maybe we can be a little braver when we sense God leading where we prefer not to go?

Maybe we can be more open and listen for His guidance?

Maybe we can embrace the things we know will be good for us, and let our faith win out over our fear?

For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather of power and love. (2 Timothy 1:7)

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