Fear Based

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, thay He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you.
1 Peter 5: 6-7 NKJV

What is it that scares you the most?  Heights?  Rejection?  What others think of you?  Whatever it is, each of us has something that, given the chance, will paralyze us with fear.  A few of these fears that used to grip me are a fear of heights and certain social situations.  I guess I shouldn't say "used to" as they still raise their ugly heads from time to time, when I allow them.  This past summer, I once again found a enjoyment for hiking this Pacific Northwest with a dear friend.  And, once again, I found my fear of heights nagging me as I hiked more than a few trails.  Now, I'm a firm believer that man was NOT meant to fly and that, inevitably, we all make questionable decisions.  However, try as I might, each time I was faced with a high, cliffside trail, I froze.  The fact that I'm here writing this is testament that I survived these numerous encounters with altitude.  So, I didn't perish, but I was certainly in fear that I might!  It seems silly, but had something drastic happened on one of these trails, I would have been safe in my Lords kingdom.
Where do these fears come from?  Certainly, I could have fallen off a high cliff this summer, but I didn't.  Is it a fear of the unknown that holds us back?  Possibly.  However, I'm inclined to think there is a bit more to it than that.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV

So, from 2 Timothy 1:7 we can see that whatever fears that we may have, they do not come from God.  Yes, God was more than capable of instilling a spirit of fear in us, but fortunately he didn't.  The spirit that our loving God DID give to us is a spirit of power, love and of a sound mind.  Anyone who's ever been paralyzed by their own fears knows all too well that they usually don't make wise decisions in the spur of the moment.  Perhaps this is why Paul is trying in this passage to instill in young Timothy the reassurance that his fears were not a part of his new creation?  I'll take this one step further.

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
Galations 2:20 NKJV

Ask yourself one question, what did Jesus fear?  Was it satan?  The Jewish pharisees who opposed him?  His ultimate impending death on the cross?  Jesus faced each one of these situations with the power of his father who walked with him.  Yes, there was agony that night in the garden before he was handed over, but even then Jesus did the will of his father in heaven.  My reason for bringing this up is that Galations 2:20 assures us that Jesus resides within we who believe.  So, if our Lord Jesus resides within us, then we have the power of his spirit within us each day.  Is this the spirit of power, love and of a sound mind?  I'm inclined to believe it is.  Knowing that our lord Jesus lives within us seems to make those fears we have seem pointless.  We walk in the spirit of the risen Christ!  It helps to know that whatever trail I'm on, I'm there with Jesus.

~Scott~