Spirit of Fear

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind – 2 Timothy 1:7.

Several years ago my wife and I lived in a beautiful farm home that we leased from our church. After  moving into the home we noticed that there was quite a bit of farm mice that ran around the home. I talked with the administrative pastor about how to address the problem and his response was not to worry because the snakes would take care of them. I responded in shock, “No thank you, I prefer the mice”.

I went back home overwhelmed by fear and from that moment on I could not sleep. I tossed and turned every night.  Whenever I would hear a mouse I imagined a snake chasing it which increased the fear. I finally thought to myself, “I must overcome this fear; if a snake was to appear I cannot run since I’m supposed to be the man of the house.  Several months later, I decided to fight this fear. I began to confront the snake in my mind by imagining myself facing one; quoting scriptures until finally I overcame my fears. I did not see a snake around our home until the day before we moved out.  I immediately went on the internet and learned that the snake I saw was harmless and was more afraid of me then I was of it. I was able to sleep that night in peace without troubling my family.

What are you afraid of? The Bible is very clear that God has not given us a spirit of fear. The first time the word “fear” appears in the Bible is in Genesis 3:9, after Adam sins he hears the voice of the Lord and is afraid and hides himself from the Lord because he discovers that he is naked. Never be afraid unless you are naked. Sin causes us to be spiritually exposed; it brings out shame and guilt which creates fear. Recognizing this however should not have made Adam run from God but rather it should have made him run to God. The Bible says in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. Sin does cause fear but this fear should cause us to run to God for forgiveness and not from Him since no one else can relieve us of our sins. What if your fear is not due to sin, how do you relieve yourself of this fear?

1. Cultivate a healthy reverence for God – you cannot have two equally dominant fears in your heart; one will overpower the other, therefore cultivating a healthy fear of God will relieve you of the fear of anything else.

2. Confront your fears – identify the things or people that make you afraid and proceed as you confront them though you may still feel afraid. You will never completely eliminate your fears without confrontation. Unlike doubt which must be addressed to proceed, you can proceed with fear and overtime it will dissipate.

Fear is one of the major reasons many Biblical Entrepreneurs give up or sometimes operate beneath their potential. While the world strives to be fearless, Christians struggle to manage their fear on their own, neither remedy will work. We are not called to be fearless but rather we are called to move with fear and trembling remembering that we have not been given the spirit of fear but of love and of a sound mind.

My prayer for you this week is that you will cultivate a healthy fear of God and confront those things that make you afraid so that you may fulfill your full potential.