For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
Many in the United States today are afraid. Some worry about their job, others their health, retirement, you name it, the first thing that usually comes to mind is fear. This is a natural reaction.
Look in your Bible, every time an angel appears to men or women one of the first things out of the angel’s mouth is, “Fear not” or “Do not be afraid”.
We know the natural reaction to changes in the world around us is fear, what is the unnatural or supernatural reaction? Is it not faith?
How do you go from the operating in the natural, to the operating in the supernatural? For starters, you need a basic understanding of how the natural and supernatural both work.
Satan uses the carnal (or your five senses) to trap or ensnare you into being fearful. God uses your faith to change the natural, supernaturally. Which one do you use most?
Look again at our title scripture, from 2 Timothy 1:7, God does not give us a spirit of fear, so where does fear come from? Fear is something you are born with, it comes natural to most people. Some fear is good and healthy, for examlpe these fears can help you avoid taking risks with out first counting the costs: fear of the unknown, fear of falling, etc.
The fear I am talking about is the one mentioned in 2 Timothy, “the Spirit of Fear”. Yes, there is a spirit of fear and its’ primary purpose is to take your eyes off of God and on your current situation.
What is it we as believers must learn to do, to combat this kind of fear? We need to learn how to walk by faith and not by sight. With faith you receive power, love and a sound mind. Now that is more like it.
I will elaborate more on this verse later, but for now, I wanted to encourage everyone reading this it is possible to learn to walk by faith and not by sight.
So, the $100,000 questions is, “How do you get faith”? Read this out loud, “So then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) Believe it or not your faith just grew. “How”, you might ask? Know this, the word of God is true, and if you did what I asked, you heard the word of God and your faith grew.
As you study and read the word of God, your eyes are on the things of God and not the things of this world. This will increase your faith which will, as a side benefit, decrease your fear.
When I start to fear I ask myself, “Would a child of the King be afraid in this situation?” I will almost always say “no”! This not only gives me strength, it eliminates my fear. Try this for yourself, instead of reacting in fear, do what the angels say, “Fear not.” Remember God is not a respector of persons, if it works for me, it will work for you.