To Encourage You

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Identifying the source of a problem is always essential to addressing that problem.  For example, if all we focus on and treat are the symptoms of a disease, the disease will remain and the symptoms will inevitably just keep cropping up.  That’s one of the reasons the verse above is such a wonderful gift of truth. It gets to the heart of one of the greatest problems any of us ever faces the problem of fear. 

But notice that the verse above is addressed to “us,” so knowing who the “us” is referring to is critical to understanding what Paul was saying when he wrote these words.  2 Timothy is a letter that was written from the apostle Paul to his disciple Timothy.  Therefore, it was written from a believer to a believer, and, as such, it is meant as a personal letter to every other believer since the time it was first written.  He is talking to Timothy about Christian service, which, for the Christian, is every aspect of his or her life. We live to serve Christ.  It’s our life’s purpose.  But it is important to realize that such a life is certain to be accompanied by troubles, for it’s a life that swims against the current. 

You see, the world, and the spirit of this world, are enemies of Christ.  So, it is no surprise that anyone who follows Christ will be opposed by conflicts within and without.  One of the most troubling aspects of these conflicts and trials is the emotion of fear.  So how is a Christian to deal with fear when it raises its ugly head?  Do we deal with the physical symptoms by taking a pill for anxiety, doing breathing exercises to calm ourselves, or perhaps becoming more active and exercising more?  That’s the advice we hear so often from the world, but it’s advice that never gets to the heart of the problem, i.e., to the very source.

The verse above tells us that fear is a spiritual issue rather than simply a physical or even an emotional issue.  And the antidote for that fear is to apply a spiritual solution.  Again, looking at Paul’s words to Timothy, we see that, for the believer, the source of fear is not God. He has not given the believer such a spirit.  That spirit always comes from the enemy of our souls, who is constantly tempting us to doubt the God Who loves us and to question that what He has for us is always best. 

But we should remember that God has already given us specific spiritual gifts that are an antidote to fear.  These gifts are all gifts of the Holy Spirit, Who dwells within us, not because we feel like He dwells in us, but because we know He does since God, Who cannot lie, has told us He does (1 Corinthians 2:12, Galatians 4:6, Romans 8:9,15).  And with the Holy Spirit we have the spiritual resources of power, love, and a sound mind.  It’s the ability to act on the basis of what we know rather than on how we feel.  God is living in the believer, and His power to defeat fear dwells within us.  The knowledge of His love towards us frees us from fear (1 John 4:18).   And with this truth He enables us to have sound thinking and self-discipline regarding spiritual things.  We understand the truth that “though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).  For you see, it is thoughts and arguments that are raised either by others or in our own minds (with the help of the devil, of course) against the knowledge of God that is the source of fear for any believer.  And it is the knowledge of God, i.e., of His never-failing love for us and His awesome and eternal promises that come from that love, that will destroy each and every thought that is contrary to that knowledge, ripping them up at their very root. 

May God help us to hold fast to His truth in the face of the temptations that are inevitably trying to grip us with fear as we serve Him in a world that is hostile to both Christ and His followers – and may we be quick to say with the psalmist “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.  In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?” (Psalms 56:3-4)? 

How awesome is our God and the truth of His Word, the antidote for any fear that comes into the life of those who know Him?