Anybody else make decisions throughout their day struggling with fear? Could be anything from fear of death to fear of missing out, and everything in between. But fear becomes the boss of you. It tells you how to live and what to avoid. It makes you believe you are controlling your life by obeying it. But any control given to you by fear is an illusion.
So, if God doesn’t give you the spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7-8), how do you take fear out of the driver’s seat?
This passage says you are given the Holy Spirit instead of the spirit of fear. So, the reason we are not afraid is not that we are strong enough for whatever we face, or because we are living in denial. Instead, we have to recognize Who is in us. If we have the Holy Spirit, we can face anything because we have the power of God within us. We don’t have to drum up enough power, love or self-control (some versions say “sound mind”) but we get to acknowledge that the Holy Spirit living within us already has enough of all of that. And He is the One who gives it to us.
So, what does He give you to deal with fear?
1. Mighty power. His strength in your weakness. Again, you don’t have to try to be strong enough for whatever comes. You acknowledge your weakness, and see through it to His strength that He has given you. We don’t operate through our daily life very often acknowledging that we have mighty power. We might get hung up on physical limitations or illness, or on lack of knowledge, or something else that convinces us that we are stuck in weakness. But God says He has given you mighty power through the indwelling Holy Spirit. No fear stands before that power. We do not cower or hide. We walk straight into whatever the day holds because we are standing in His mighty power.
2. Love. You are held together by His love, and He gives you love to overpower the fear. This can be a hard one to swallow—how does He love me when I am struggling with this incredible loss? I do believe, though, that if we can stand in faith in His love, we can make it through anything. I know you are hurting over it the struggle. We aren’t denying emotion or grief, but rather moving through them to be held by His love. If there is nowhere you can fall that is falling away from His love, you are safe. And fear is driven away. This is how martyrs can stand in the presence of their tormentors without fear and with only love for those who are hurting them. It’s God’s love.
3. Self-control. Here’s where my past legalistic self would have started beating on myself. It would say, “See, if you just had more self-control, things would be better. You wouldn’t be in this mess, etc.” So, we try to “oomph” enough self-control, and it’s only flesh trying to control flesh. We forget that self-control is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23) and given by the Holy Spirit to us. This isn’t something we have to drum up within ourselves, and then beat up on ourselves when we don’t measure up. Instead, we turn away from fear and the belief that it’s all up to us (which when we don’t measure up and it’s all up to us, massive anxiety is created!) and instead acknowledge the self-control given by the Spirit. We just get to thank Him!
So, fear doesn’t get to be your boss today. If you realize you are making decisions in an attempt to keep fear at bay, move back to the power, love and self-control you already have in the Life within. He provides everything you need, and His love drives out fear.
For God will never give you the spirit of fear, but the Holy Spirit who gives you mighty power, love, and self-control. So never be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor be embarrassed over my imprisonment, but overcome every evil by the revelation of the power of God! 2 Timothy 1:7-8