Dominion Bible StudySample

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7

I cannot recall seeing so many people living in fear as I do today. Something very dark has fallen upon us in these last couple of years. Something much darker and more sinister than merely a disease or pandemic. It is a plague of mass fear. Fear that has led to global anxiety—the kind that burrows its way into the dark places in our minds and locks us up. Many people are controlled by it. It has ruled their comings and goings. It has robbed their joy, and it has kept them in a spiritual prison of sorts. It is a prison that is underground and away from the light, so its prisoners have no way of knowing if it is night or day, rain or shine, up or down, or a new beginning or the end of days.

Some of this fear may seem rational. We are living in dangerous days. Jesus never promised us that we wouldn’t go through dark times. The Apostle Paul writes to Timothy when Paul is in prison. If there were a time to be afraid, this would be it! Paul knows he is in prison due to his preaching of the gospel. He knows he may never get out. He knows he may be killed. He knows Timothy will be concerned, but Paul tells him not to be afraid… “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

I don’t think the correct response to our suffering is to deny we are suffering. The point is not to feign naïveté as if obliviousness is a strategy to fight against fear. The correct response, according to Paul, is to recognize the danger, admit there is something to fear, but have faith to overcome the fear by the Spirit of Christ within us. After this beautiful verse, Paul goes on to talk about Jesus Christ who “abolished death and brought forth life and immortality.” It was God who called Paul to this great work of preaching the gospel, and Paul is convinced God will see His work through to the end.

As we face our very real and present fears in the days to come, let us be reminded, as Paul was, that it is God who has called us, abolished death, and granted us eternal life. He will see us through to the end. He did not give us a spirit of fear. Instead, he traded it for a spirit of power.