By Michael Adekoya – “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind”. 2Tim. 1:7.
Dear Reader, there are lots of things going on in the world today that can make people to be afraid, fearful, frightened or depressed. There are killings, kidnappings, economic problems, joblessness, broken homes, uncertainties, redundancies, marital unfaithfulness, natural disasters, rumours of war, religious unrest, accidents, house repossessions, failures, diseases and so on. As a result of all these, many are fearful, worry, panic or depressed. No wonder, it was laid into my heart to write about fear this week. Fear means to be timid or lack of courage.
This problem of fear has been from the time immemorial. As we can read from our text above, Apostle Paul was encouraging Timothy his protégée that he has all what it takes not to be fearful. That he has genuine faith in him (vs. 5), he has been brought up well in faith by his grandmother and his mother and he has the gift of God in him through the laying on of Paul’s hands (vs. 6). Paul was telling Timothy is vs. 7 which is our text that God has not given him the spirit of fear, that is, God is not the Author of the negative spirit, bad or demonic spirit of fear. The Bible says in Prov. 1:7 that, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.” And also in Eccl. 12:13 that, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all.”. In these passages, the Holy Spirit recognises and encourages ‘fear’ of God which is to reverence, acknowledge, respect and to honour God. Anything apart from this is not from God.
There are common types of fear, my friend, if you can identify any of these in your life, please do your best to deal with it before it destroys you. Fear of death, many people these days fear death, they do not want to die as soon as they hear of death, fear, panic even depression shall overwhelm them. Some that have been diagnonised of any known terminal diseases would have been ‘dead’ even before the disease kills them. One adage says, a coward dies many times before his death. The Bible says “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Heb. 2:14-15. Jesus has conquered death for us, if you are a Kingdom Citizen; you need not to fear death, as you’ve already passed from death to life, death is no more your enemy rather it is a gateway to eternal bliss and enjoyment. But if you are not yet a Kingdom Citizen, well you must definitely have reasons to fear as Hell fire awaits you after death unless you accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour before you pass away.
My friend, another common type of fear is the fear of man. “The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.” Pro. 29:25. The fear of what man would say, what they can do or what they may not do. Whereas, Jesus says that we must not fear man who can only kill the body and do nothing more but we should reverence God who is able to kill the body and send one’s soul into eternal Hell fire. There is fear of unknown, fear of uncertainty, fear due to the sin committed so as not to be found out, not to be caught, not to be rejected, not to loss integrity, trust and so on. In addition to these types of common fear is the fear of losing someone or something such as position as Saul was pursuing David as he knew he was the one that God has chosen to replace him. Some have fear of failure, ‘if I try it and it fails or it doesn’t work’. These common types of fear are endless, but due to the space and time, I am only able to mention the above ones.
My friend, you may ask, what are the sources of this negative spirit of fear? Well, the answer to this is not farfetched. The original source was when Adam ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden – Gen. 3:8-10. He had a perfect relationship, perpetual and unbroken fellowship with God until he was deceived by the Devil to disobey God. Afterwards, he was fearful when God appeared to fellowship with him as usual. Since that time, the spirit of fear has been passed down to all humanity. To overcome this, my friend, you have to give your life to the Second Adam – the Lord Jesus so that you can be restored to the kind of fellowship, relationship, boldness, courage and confidence that Adam had before he disobeyed God.
Another source of fear is our background, how and where we were brought up, the kind of home training that we had, the kind of environment that we grew up. All these either consciously or unconsciously contributes to the negative spirit of fear. As the Kingdom Citizens, if you lack trust in the Word of God, you shall be susceptible to the negative spirit of fear. If you have insecurity, if you are ignorant, if you have evil imagination, your past ugly experiences, if you lack perfect love for God and others (1John 4:8), if you meditate on negative things, if you keep on watching scary movies and if you are religious and not a genuine spiritual person, you shall definitely live in fear.
My friend, as mentioned earlier, if this evil spirit of fear is not dealt with earlier, it at can be detrimental to your progress in life, destiny or health. The negative spirit of fear can cause untimely death, there was a popular football Manager who committed suicide due to the fear of being exposed of his hidden lifestyle. Fear attracts exactly what we fear – Job 3:25. As faith in God attracts the power, the blessings and the presence of God, so also fear attracts the power, the curses and the presence of the Devil. Negative fear paralyses creativity, it causes stagnation; the Israelites could not get to the Promised Land until after 40 extra years due to fear. Also it brings about the wrath of God. The Bible says “Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you:” Num. 14:28.
It brings about lack of answered prayer – Jam. 1:6-8. It can send one to Hell Fire – Rev. 21:8. It causes unnecessary suspicion, lack of peace of mind, always watching your back, lack of joy, worry, anxiety, evil scheming, manipulation, lying, it brings about putting others down, condemning others, discouraging others, destroying others, it brings about hypocrisy, cover up, mask, lack of trust in yourself and in others, pleasing others at the expense of God – Gal. 1:10, knowing the right thing but not able to do it. Or knowing the right thing to say but not able to say it – John 9:20-23, inconsistency, different standards for different people, it causes indecision, it can block our spiritual growth and development, it hinders us from becoming what God wants us to become or to enjoy what God wants us to enjoy – Matt. 25:24, it makes us walk at a distance from God – Matt. 26:58. Negative fear can affect our physical health, sometimes some diseases such as ulcer, heart problems, indigestion, headache has been traced to fear and it can be contagious.
My friend, since this negative spirit of fear is so terrible, damaging and destroying to this extent, what do we need to do to be delivered or saved from it. Firstly, you need to acknowledge that have the spirit of fear. What you don’t identify or acknowledge you cannot face it, deal with it and overcome it. You need to know the source/s of your fear, deal with it from the source. Confess your sin of fear to God as it shows your lack of trust in His Person, Power, Promises and in the finished word of Jesus on the cross. Sin of unbelief is one of the grievous sins that God detests. Then change your negative thinking or imagination, choose to meditate on godly things and most especially on the Word of God – Phil.4:8. Acquire more of the knowledge of the Word of God, this shall boost your faith in God – Matt.8:26, Luke 24:5-8, Rom. 10:17, Isa. 41:10-13. Your understanding of the victory that you have already possessed over the Devil – Col. 2:15 through our Lord Jesus, the finished work of Jesus on the cross, who you are in Christ and all what God has not given you and all what He has given you shall catapult you from lack of faith, little faith to the kind of faith you need to overcome the spirit of fear.
In addition to the aforementioned actions on how to deal with the negative spirit of fear, since it is not given to you by God, call on the name of Jesus and cast the spirit out of your life – Jam. 4:7. After the spirit must have gone out of you, you need to get and remain connected to God – John 15:5. Ask for the fresh power of God everyday – Luke 10:19. Finally, work on the area of your love for God and for others – 1John 4:18. If you walk in perfect love you will not be afraid of punishment, perfect love will give you confidence and faith in God, trusting that God is always in control of every situation that you are going through – Rom. 8:31-39, Heb. 13:5-6. Henceforth, I can see you walking in boldness, confidence, courage and confidence that is generated from your relationship with God and obedience to His Word. Rise up right now and reject the spirit of fear that you did no receive from God.
Remain blessed!
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