Tag Archives: Trust

Secured by Our Harness: Doing It Scared at Forest Adventure

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Earlier today, I strapped in and climbed alongside our junior youth and some of their friends at Forest Adventure.

Three obstacle courses.
Ropes suspended mid-air.
Thin logs.
Shaky platforms.
And heights.

Lots of heights.

As someone who is afraid of heights, I knew from the first ladder climb that this would not just be a Sunday activity.

It would test me.

The Harness That Holds

There was one section with very thin logs hanging high above the ground. Every step made them sway. My legs trembled. My mind whispered, What if you fall?

And then I remembered … I am wearing a harness

Even if I miss a step, I will not crash to the ground.
The worst that could happen? I dangle. I wobble. I hang awkwardly … But I will not fall.

And isn’t that so much like life?

Fear often paralyzes us even when we are secured. We hesitate. We calculate. We imagine worst-case scenarios. Yet all along, we are already held.

God is like that harness.

The platforms may shake.
The winds may sway us.
Our balance may fail.

But we are secured. Fear makes us forget what grace already guarantees.

Doing It Scared

Courage is not the absence of fear.

Courage is trembling and stepping anyway.

Midway through one of the courses, I kept telling myself:

This too shall pass. Just take the next step.

One step.
Then another.
Then another.

And eventually, you reach a stable platform again.

I told the kids the same thing when I saw them freeze. “Let’s all do it scared.”

Sometimes finishing strong is not about speed.
It’s about refusing to quit mid-air.

Listening to One Voice

One of the ates struggled from the very first obstacle. Even after overcoming one section, she would face the next one with the same fear all over again.

There was a moment when she froze completely. The steps were shaking. She kept asking:

“Can I hold this?”
“Can I step there?”
“What if…?”

Too many questions.
Too many voices shouting encouragement from below.

I shouted from across while struggling myself in my shaking steps, “Listen to one voice. Just do it!”

She chose to listen only to the crew guiding her from the course.

And that was wisdom.

In life, there are many voices:
Fear.
Doubt.
Pressure.
Opinions.
Even well-meaning advice.

But maturity is knowing which voice leads you safely forward.

Later over dinner, she shared something beautiful. She said she saw her life in that obstacle course. Amidst all the voices, she realized she just needed to focus on one. And in her heart, she didn’t want to quit.

No matter how slow it took her, she finished.

Shaky.
Slow.
But faithful.

Responsibility Makes You Brave

Here’s another realization.

When you carry responsibility for others, you don’t have the luxury of quitting easily.

I kept thinking:
If I stop, what message does that send to the kids?
Will their parents feel confident entrusting them to us again?

Sometimes leadership forces courage out of you.

When responsibility makes us step forward…
When fear tells us to turn back…
When the path has no shortcut…

We move anyway.

Not because we are fearless.
But because someone is watching.
Because someone is learning.
Because someone needs to see that finishing is possible.

Love makes you stay.
Love makes you step.

No Shortcuts, Only Strength

The third course was the most difficult. Once you start, there is no turning back.

I went through it with one of our youths. She didn’t finish the 2nd course because she was already tired. The crew double-checked if she was sure about attempting the final one because she had mentioned she was tired.

But she said she wanted to try.

There was a particularly difficult section where she could have taken a shortcut by ziplining straight across. Her father even suggested it. Another youth echoed the same.

She didn’t.

She chose the harder path.

And she finished.

Tired.
But smiling.
Stronger.

In life, shortcuts may save time, but they don’t always build strength.

The shaky planks.
The exhausting stretches.
The slow progress.

They shape something in us that comfort never can.

Secured

Today, I realized something simple yet profound:

We are often more secured than we feel.

God does not promise that the platforms won’t shake.
He promises that we will not fall beyond His hold.

The Bible says:

“For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, ‘Fear not, I am the one who helps you.’”
— Isaiah 41:13

He holds our hands.

Even when our legs shake.
Even when the wind blows.
Even when the next step feels uncertain.

We wobble.
He secures.

We tremble.
He holds.

Fear shakes us.
Grace steadies us.

We do it scared.
He keeps us anchored.

God is our Harness.

Step anyway … Heaven is holding the rope.

Patience Is a Virtue …

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… I never had. I’ve been running for almost a year now, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned (or rather, still learning the hard way), it’s PATIENCE. Because to be honest patience is a virtue I never had.

When I first started, my pace was a painful 14–15 minutes per kilometer. I remember feeling breathless after just a 30second jog, wondering why on earth people would find this enjoyable. Fast forward to today, I ran 15 kilometers along the Han River in Seoul, and my pace? STILL SLOW … a whooping 10 minutes per kilometer. Others who’ve started later than I did are now flying past me like gazelles, and here I am still trudging like a tortoise.

But as I caught my breath near Yeouido Han River, after what was supposed to be a 15-minute walk from my hotel that turned into a one-hour detour, I couldn’t help but laugh. I had literally gone the long way around. What was meant to be a straight route became a scenic but confusing journey. And it hit me … it’s the perfect metaphor for life.

Earlier during my run, I was listening to a podcast on Genesis, about how the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. They weren’t lost because God had abandoned them. They were there because God was preparing them. The episode mentioned how “Anah” a word that can means “to afflict” or “to humble” and how sometimes God leads us to our “wilderness” seasons, not to punish us, but to humble us, to prepare us.

As I reflected, these contrasts stood out and spoke deeply to my own journey, both in running and in life.

Oppression or Opportunity
When we face delays or detours, it’s easy to feel oppressed by the weight of unmet expectations, whether it’s in our goals, our careers, or even our personal growth. But maybe what feels like delay is actually divine preparation.

In running, every slow kilometer is a chance for endurance to build quietly beneath the surface. In life, every pause, setback, or unanswered prayer can be God stretching our spiritual lungs, conditioning our faith for longer runs ahead. The Israelites thought they were stuck, but they were being trained to depend on manna, not on their own might. Our “oppressions” may just be disguised opportunities to grow stronger where it matters most … in TRUST.

Trap or Test
When things don’t go our way, it’s tempting to see it as a trap. “Why am I here again? Why is this happening?” But maybe it’s not a trap, rather, it’s a test. Like my long, lost detour to the Han River, what seems like going in circles might actually be God rerouting us to discover who we are becoming in the process. A test isn’t meant to destroy us; it’s meant to reveal us.

In those moments when we feel trapped, by our own pace, our circumstances, or our limits, God might be testing the posture of our hearts. Are we still willing to trust His pace even when it feels painfully slow?

Punishment or Preparation
There’s a fine line between feeling punished and being prepared. Sometimes, slowness feels like punishment in a world obsessed with speed and progress. But in the wilderness of waiting, God is at work. He slows us down to strengthen what can’t be seen. the inner muscles of character, humility, and endurance. Just like every run trains not just my legs but also my will, every “slow season” in life builds unseen strength for future speed. Slowness is the soil where strength quietly grows.

Running has become my wilderness classroom. My pace may be slow, but my heart is learning endurance. God leads us through routes we don’t know, so that He can show what’s in our hearts and so that we can know His plans.

Maybe the point isn’t to get faster, but to get formed.
Maybe the goal isn’t the finish line, but who I become along the way.

So yes!, Patience is a virtue… I never had.
But maybe, through these slow steps and long detours, I’m finally learning it one 10-minute kilometer at a time.

“Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart.” – Deuteronomy 8:2 (NIV)