The Fear of Falling: What Living With Paralysis Taught Me About Strength, Weakness, and the God Who Holds Me Up

Living with a spinal cord injury brings a long list of quiet fears that most people never see. In this new blog series, I want to share with you some of my greatest fears because I think naming fear, owning it and then giving it to Perfect Love who casts out fear is wise.

One of the strongest is the fear of falling. If you are a wheelchair user or someone living with paralysis, you already know that falling isn’t a small inconvenience. It’s a real threat. It’s the possibility of broken bones, painful recovery, dangerous complications, or long months of lost independence.

But for me, the fear of falling is not only physical. It is spiritual too. And learning the difference between the two has changed my life.

In this post, I want to talk honestly about both:

• why the physical fear of falling is real for people with spinal cord injuries

• how a deeper spiritual fear often hides beneath it

• what Scripture says about being upheld when we feel weak

• how Jesus holds us in ways our bodies cannot

My hope is that anyone living with disability, chronic pain, emotional exhaustion, or spiritual discouragement will find encouragement here.

The Physical Fear of Falling as a Paralyzed Wheelchair User

When you’re paralyzed, every movement carries risk. Transfers, reaching, dressing, cooking, bathing, getting in and out of a vehicle — each requires strength and precision that your body cannot fully guarantee. People often assume wheelchair users have “adjusted” to life with paralysis, but the truth is that the risk never disappears.

Every transfer is a calculation.

Is the chair locked?

Is the surface level?

Will my arms hold me?

Do I have the strength today?

You can do everything right and still fall.

And a fall for someone with paralysis is not simply a slip or stumble.

It can mean:

• fractures you cannot feel

• torn shoulders that never fully heal

• pressure sores from the impact

• months of lost mobility during recovery

• being stranded on the floor with no ability to get up

• fear returning every time you try again

People see the wheelchair. They don’t see the risk management happening inside your head. This fear is not dramatic. It is survival. It is wisdom. And it is rooted in lived experience.

Where the Spiritual Fear of Falling Begins

As a paralyzed single mom, I’ve learned that physical fear can awaken spiritual fear too. Just as I fear falling physically, there have been seasons where I feared falling spiritually —failing God, slipping into discouragement, or collapsing under the weight of life.

The questions sound similar:

What if I can’t hold myself up anymore?

What if my strength gives out?

What if I slip and can’t recover?

But here is the truth that changed everything for me:

Physically, I fall because my body is weak.

Spiritually, I stand because Christ is strong.

The fear of falling spiritually comes when I believe I am responsible for holding myself together. When I think my faith depends on my grip, my balance, or my consistency.

But Scripture says something very different.

What Scripture Says About Being Upheld When You Are Weak

These verses have become anchors for me in both physical and spiritual fear:

“Underneath are the everlasting arms.” Deuteronomy 33:27.

“I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.” Isaiah 41:10.

“He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” Psalm 91:11.

None of these verses tell me to hold myself up.

They tell me that God holds me.

Spiritually, I am not standing because of my strength. I am standing because of His.

My ability to stay faithful, hopeful, or steady is not rooted in my own power, but in Christ’s unchanging grip.

Wisdom Physically and Wisdom Spiritually

Physically, I do everything I can to prevent falls.

I move carefully. I prepare my environment.

I make decisions that protect my fragile body.

This is not fear. This is wisdom.

And spiritually, wisdom looks very similar.

I stay close to Christ.

I stay in His Word.

I stay honest about my weakness.

I avoid places where I know I slip most easily.

I walk circumspectly, not carelessly.

“See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise.” Ephesians 5:15.

Just as I cannot trust weak muscles to catch me physically, I cannot trust my weak will to carry me spiritually. But I can trust Christ, who never weakens and never fails.

Where The Two Fears Meet

Physically, I fall because my body is limited.

Spiritually, I stand because Jesus is not.

My wheelchair reminds me every day that I am not self-sufficient.

My faith reminds me every day that I do not have to be.

So while the physical fear of falling will always be part of my life, the spiritual fear does not have to be. Not because I am strong, but because Christ is.

He holds me in ways my body cannot.

He stabilizes me in ways my muscles never will.

He steadies me in seasons when my heart trembles.

He keeps me when I cannot keep myself.

And underneath me, in all of my weakness,

are His everlasting arms.