I will not be Afraid

God did not give us a spirit of fear,
but one of love, power and a sound mind

2 Timothy 1:7

Fear....  There are times I wonder:  am I the only one who has it; am I the only one who can be paralyzed by it? 

When Paul wrote his last letter to Timothy, he was in jail and alone.  The emperor Nero was in power, and was notorious in his hatred and persecution of Christians.  Paul was telling his friend Timothy not to be paralyzed by fear.  Paul was telling Timothy to use everything God placed within him to share the gospel:  love:  we are called to love God & love people; power:  it comes directly from God and is something we don't have by ourselves; a sound mind:  it says we are clear headed and focused on what God has called us to do.

I am willing to bet that we all have fears.  What do you do when  you are afraid?

True story:
A few weeks ago my daughter was learning to do a back flip off of the high board for a dive meet.  The high board is 3 meters or 10 feet off the water.  From the pool deck it doesn't look that high, but when you're the one standing on the board, 10 feet is pretty high.  She was afraid.  Her legs were shaking, teeth chattering, tears running down her face.  "I'm afraid" she kept saying.  "I don't want to splat I know it will hurt". 

I told her to push through her fear & to be courageous.  We shouted out 2 Timothy 1:7 and claimed it over her fear.  I'm happy to say she learned her back flip, and now has no fear of doing it.

When Elizabeth was standing on the board she was focused on her fear, and couldn't see past it.  It paralyzed her so she couldn't move forward.  Fear stops us where we are.  It takes courage to push through our fears.  God tells us to be strong and courageous. (Deuteronomy 31:6)  When you find yourself in the grips of fear and need courage, look up and fall into the loving hands of God.  You fall into Him by:  prayer; reading your bible; using resources like biblegateway.com;  talking to your parents, pastors, and other adults you trust.  You don't have to face your fears alone!  Jesus has already made a way for you to live free in His name!  Amen!