We hear it all the time, the verse found in 2 Timothy 1:7
"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of POWER and of LOVE and of a SOUND MIND."
Yet we can't help it can we? When it's fight or flight, most of us flee. Don't get me wrong, there are circumstances in which fleeing is the best option. If there is a fire you can't fight that fire all on your own but you can flee from it and call the firefighters to fight it for you. This is a good fear, a healthy and a rational fear.
We all have our fears, some people fear flying, others fear speaking in front of a large group of people. There are many types of fear. I can speak in front of a large group of people effortlessly, but don't put me in front of a small group of people because I may freeze.
Travel back in time and remember when your fear was at it's peak. Most of us will go back to our childhood and those old familiar fears we all have shared one time or another. A fear so intense it paralyzed us. The monsters in the closet or for some under their beds.
I remember as a child I had a terrible fear of the dark. I mean this was a fear that had me wide eyed, scanning a dark room and seeing monster shapes caused by the manner in which my sweater hung loosely, over my bedroom chair. I remember my heart beating so hard I thought it would burst. And if I wasn't looking around the room searching for non existent ogres and werewolves, I was hiding under the covers because as we all know, monsters do not have any strength and are rendered helpless over 100 percent cotton sheets.
As that little girl, I'd shut my eyes tightly and pray to God in a small whisper, so the monsters couldn't hear me. I prayed this way,tucked in,tightly snug in my sheets,invisible, not even a pinkie toe revealed, sweating, but leaving a small gap around my nose for air until I drifted off to sleep. Only to awaken in a safe, brightly lit room, sheets torn away from my body during the course of the night, totally exposed for anything horrifying to attack me. I survived yet another night of hidden monsters waiting to pounce on me in my sleep. As we all know the monsters disappear during the daytime so there was nothing to fear once the sun rose. When I look back now, I can see the silliness in this illogical anxiety.
As adults many of us have found ourselves in that familiar atmosphere of all-consuming fear. We wished we had super power sheets to serve as shields of protection but we don't.
We are older now and we are much more aware of a living God who is our protector and we are also aware that there might actually be monsters in our bedroom.
There is a spiritual warfare we have to fight. There are powers and principalities. There are real evils in this world who want nothing more than to destroy us and give us that spirit of fear.
Ephesians 6:12
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
The evil before us may not always be tangible. It may be elusive, invisible or vague but the presence of it can definitely be felt,especially by one who has the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. This Holy Spirit was given to us as a resource, a tool, a guide, a teacher, a helper. This is the Spirit that can overcome the spirit of fear.
POWER
The spirit of fear is a dreadfulness that can cause us to become ineffective Christians. Christians tightly wrapped inside of our "insecurity blankets" filled with terror. This is unnecessary, because God has not given us a spirit of fear so we do not have to live our lives anxiously awaiting the next assault from evil,God has given us power.
What does that mean? What does that entail? Does it include superhero strength?
Of course not because we all know that superhero strength can only be obtained by falling into a vat of some kind of toxic goo. I am kidding.
The power that God gives us surpasses that of any superhero, if superheroes existed, and we all know that they do not.
It may be hard to wrap our limited minds around it but God has given us a power like no other.
In the words of S.Charnock,"God’s power is like Himself: infinite, eternal, incomprehensible; it can neither be checked, restrained, nor frustrated by the creature."
Being mere humans we may speak often and yet fail to be heard. God speaks but once and the thunder of His power can be heard everywhere.
"The Lord also thundered from the heavens, and the Most High uttered His voice, amid hailstones and coals of fire. And He sent out His arrows and scattered them; and He flashed forth lightnings and put them to rout. Then the beds of the sea appeared and the foundations of the world were laid bare at Your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils." Psalm 18:13-15
I praise my awesome God. If God is capable of that, why wouldn't He be able to abolish that spirit of fear and give us power to rid the pesky evils that attempt to make our lives and walk with God ineffective.
LOVE
He's given us love and God's love is uninfluenced. By this we mean, there was nothing whatsoever in the objects of His love to call it into being, nothing to attract or prompt it. The love which one has for another is because of something in them; but the love of God is free, spontaneous, un-caused. Nothing caused it to being. The only reason why God loves any is found in His own sovereign will.
"The most extensive ideas that a finite mind can frame about Divine love, are infinitely below its true nature. The heaven is not so far above the earth as the goodness of God is beyond the most raised conceptions which we are able to form of it. It is an ocean which swells higher than all the mountains of opposition in such as are the objects of it. It is a fountain from which flows all necessary good to all those who are interested in it (John Brine, 1743)."
The love that God has given to us defeats the spirit of fear.
Romans 8:35-39 Paul writes, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
The Spirit of love that God give us conquers all evil and so the spirit of fear is diminished by God's love and His power. These attributes of God can defeat anything.
SOUND MIND
Finally there is the sound mind given by God that can help us to be conquerors and victorious over the enemy.
"And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God's And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Romans 12:2
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard you hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Phil 4:6-7
The power over the Spirit of fear is God's power, His love and a sound mind obtained by keeping ourselves in check and maintaining a fresh mental and spiritual attitude. I often take time to analyze myself spiritually just to make sure everything is in order, and according to God's will. If something is out of place it just leaves a door open for evil to step in and try to get a hold, to make us afraid and live in fear that is not of God.
So poke your head out of the sheets and sleep restfully and fearlessly knowing God is in control. Be courageous and brave. Keep your head high in confidence because the very Creator of the universe, the Author of your life has got you "covered"
