“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love and sound judgement.” 2 Timothy 1:7 CSB
Fear, in its original form in this verse means “faithless, afraid, coward.” God didn’t make cowards, He made warriors. The spirit He gave us in not faithless, but faithful. He didn’t make us afraid, He made us courageous. This verse reinforces it for us, be not afraid, God is with us. The devil is the one who tries to make us fearful, if we let him, we will be. This month, we’re focusing on our fears. We’re going to look at scripture that speaks directly to them, we’re going to tell our fears who is really in charge, it’s not them. God is bigger than any fear we have. When we face our fears with God by our side, we will experience a freedom like we’ve never experienced before. We will begin to live our lives to the fullest, just as God intended us to do. When we fill ourselves with His Spirit, there is no room for fear.
The definition of darkness is the absence of light. Fear lives in darkness, the crevices of our soul that have not had light shed on them. Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12 NIV). If we’re to shed light on our fears, we’ve got to let Jesus into those dark crevices where they are hiding. In an article from Brain Tracy, fears are learned, therefore they can be unlearned. But in order to unlearn fear, it takes self discipline, it takes intentionality, it takes getting back on the horse. I have a massive fear of heights. I have no idea where this came from, I think from my days as a flight attendant. I didn’t realize I had a fear of heights until my mother and I climbed the steps of the lighthouse in Corolla one summer vacation. As soon as I came out of the door at the top of the steps I was paralyzed with fear. Yes, my mother had to hold my hand as I clung to the wall and help me get back to the stairs. I still remember the moment so vividly, my mother thought I was nuts. I believe she told me I was being ridiculous, but I can’t remember her exact words. I do know, I have yet to overcome my fear of heights.
I will never overcome my fear of heights if I don’t expose myself to heights over and over again. Until I learn, just as my mother said, I’m being ridiculous, I will live in fear. My fear of heights keeps me from seeing beautiful sights from a vantage point that can only be found when one climbs to the top. I don’t know that I will overcome that fear this month, but I’m willing to try. Will you join me as we expose the darkness of our fears to the light of Jesus? In Him we will find freedom from our fears, in Him we will find power, we will find love, we will find sound judgement.
