Given!

Given!

2 Timothy 1:7 AMPC

[7] For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.

Paul was writing this letter to Timpthy, his son in the faith. Here was a young man who, through no fault of his own, found himself on the wrong side of the Jews at the time. His mum was a Jew, but his father was Greek, and that meant he did not understand the covenant of circumcision like the Jews did. He also was not welcome in the congregation of the Jews as he was not circumcised, even though there was no doubt that he was gifted by God for exploits. We must be careful about man-made schemes and philosophies that drive men away from God, rather than draw men to Him. We must be careful not to allow the ephemeral and the temporal deny us the benefits and blessings of the eternal. What are those schemes of men that have now become so important to me, at the expense of the lives of men? Thank God for the foundation of faith laid in this young man's life by his mother. 

There was no doubt that Timothy could have felt a bit out of place, maybe a bit fearful of interacting with people outside of his close circle, but he had a mentor who believed in and supported him. Can God entrust the lives of other people into my hands? Am I able to stand on the Truth, no matter who it is that is affected or impacted? Whatever was the human limitation that could be controlled was addressed, and Timothy was circumcised which led to the Jews being able to accept him. Paul makes it clear in the verse above that whilst it is okay to accept that fear may come, it is critical to note that which we are and whose we are should drive our response to fear. There will be many things we may not understand or be able to control, but knowing whose we are, where we are headed, and who backs us up, will help deal with fear and its many manifestations.

As the verse above says, fear can be crippling and limiting, and it is a spirit too, which means that the man of the flesh is not able to conquer or master it without the help of a more powerful spirit. You can make all the noise you want; you can only counter the spirit of timidity, cowardice, and fear, which is of the devil, with the Spirit of power, of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control, which is of, and comes from God. The spirit that leads to timidity and cowardice cannot be good, as it robs you of opportunities to be a blessing to other people. The Spirit of power and of love enables and empowers you to reach beyond your wildest dreams into places that only God could have opened up for you. God gives of His Spirit. He wants me to properly represent Him here on earth, and that is why He gives of Himself to as many as would ask Him. He will supply all that I need, as long as I trust only in Him. Do you? God's time of favour is here.