Antidote to Fear: Faith Over Flight Anxiety✍️

I may look small at 4'11,  but I can confidently drive alongside huge trucks. When I'm behind the wheel of our SUV, I feel like the queen of the road (sorry, not sorry!). I fearlessly keep pace with all the 'opponents' on the national highway, completely unfazed even when I'm tightly sandwiched between massive vehicles with barely any distance between us. However, I recently realized I wasn't as brave as I thought. Boarding a flight for the very first time brought me face-to-face with my ultimate fear: flying.

Fear is inevitable; everyone experiences it. Ignoring or escaping it is pointless because it will eventually consume us. What, then, should we do with our fears? We must confront and overcome them. That is exactly what I had to do on our trip to Hong Kong.

While we were at NAIA completing our travel documents, I could already feel anxiety attacking my body, mind, and emotions. I was trapped in "what-if" imaginations about the airplane. "Mabuti pa sa barko, kapag lumubog, may nakaka-survive, pero ang eroplano pag bumagsak, walang natitirang buhay," my sister used to tell me when I was younger. As those thoughts replayed in my mind, my hands grew cold, my palms sweated, and my pulse raced. I could not help but feel agitated, even though Hong Kong was only a two-hour flight from the Philippines.

This is it, pansit! Whew. I mustered all my courage to deal with my anxiety as the plane readied for takeoff. Many things can happen during a flight, and passengers have zero control. The captain in command of the aircraft held my life and every other passenger's life in his hands. We had no choice but to trust this stranger simply because he was the pilot, hoping he would bring us safely to our destination.

Soon, the flight attendant announced that the doors were closing. Before I knew it, we were soaring high, staring at clouds that looked like bunches of cotton hanging in the sky. I felt lightheaded and weak. My daughter sat quietly next to me. I wondered if she was just as nervous as I was.

The Bible tells us that the fear of the Lord is the only fear we should have, a reverent respect that turns us away from evil. Because God hates sin, we learn to hate it too, desiring never to offend the Lord who loves us. But the crippling fear I was experiencing felt like a total failure of faith. I sat in silence as ugly, anxious thoughts flooded my mind. 'Not good, not right; help me, God,' I prayed."

Then, a wave of guilt hit me. I always encourage others not to fear but to have faith in Jesus, yet here I was, terrified on a flight. It was time to practice what I preach. I knew I shouldn't look worried, especially with my daughter beside me and my husband and son in the row behind us. Wanting to reassure them, I forced a grin so they would think I was completely okay, relaxed, and enjoying the flight.

The truth is, most of our anxieties stem from faulty thinking, just worrying about scenarios that may never happen. We must choose between fear or faith. Given that we only have one heart and one mind, we cannot handle both. This was my battle at that moment. Hence, I prayed while trying to get rid of the bad thoughts that kept crowding my head. Then, I heard the Holy Spirit prompting me to play praise and worship songs on my phone. So I put on my earphones, listened to the music, while reminding myself of God's promise of His presence in Scripture."

Slowly, peace washed over me. My uneasiness faded, and my heartbeat stabilized. God was well aware of my fear, and only He could quiet it. When I shifted my focus to Jesus and rested in the assurance of a safe trip, I finally felt at ease and fell asleep.

The lesson from this experience? FAITH in God through Jesus Christ is the ultimate antidote to fear.

What was the result of putting my faith into action? 

I appreciated our ride✈️ 

No more fear!🛩️ 

Glory to Jesus!