ManageYourEmotionsBook8.5x5.5_RevJULY.indd

Our main character in this chapter,Timothy, one of the Apostle Paul’s sons in the ministry, could not have feared flying, yet he did have issues. Despite having a solid upbringing and being tremen- dously gifted,Timothy lacked confidence when it came to sharing the Gospel. Realizing this, Paul issued the following charge to the young man: “Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thus stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands, For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). Obviously, certain fears are warranted.We ought to think twice about walking down an alley alone, especially after dark. I’ve stood frightened at the edge of a cliff, where another couple of steps would have sent me falling to a rocky death. Certainly, extra precau- tions are necessary when a tornado warning has been issued. For our purposes here, however, we’ll discuss the topic from a debilitating standpoint, looking first at the problems connected with fear. The Greek word for fear is deilia, which means timid or cowardly. It is used this one time only in the entire NewTestament. Paul wantedTimothy to understand that the traits the young man exhibited weren’t the ones he received when set aside for service. Faintheartedness and fearfulness are tools used by the enemy to keep us from fruitful service. The chief problem with fear is that it questions God’s ability, authority and sovereignty. Shortly after Abraham was called by God, he made his first mistake.When famine struck his land, he took matters into his own hands by traveling to Egypt, without trusting or consulting God.There he found food, yet lost his wife, who was taken into Pharaoh’s household (Genesis 12:15).As it turned out, the spiritual famine in Egypt proved much more damaging than the physical famine in Canaan. The Gospels record an incident in which a storm arose as the disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee.When Jesus came walking on water to rescue them, they were terrified. How quickly they had

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