Forget Everything And Run or Face Everything And Rise

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.

              --2 Timothy 1:7 Amplified 

Not long ago while scrolling through my social media feed I came across a post that read a little something like this:

        

            “Fear has two different meanings--

             Forget Everything And Run OR

             Face Everything And Rise--

             The choice is yours.”

Read that again:

             “Fear has two different meanings--

              Forget Everything And Run OR

              Face Everything And Rise--

              The choice is yours.”

Admittedly, facing everything and rising isn’t exactly what comes to mind when in the presence of fear. In fact, fear is defined as “an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat” as well as “to be afraid of (someone or something) as likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening.” Fear is something we all wrestle with at one point or another. Even those called of God were conflicted with fear during some of the most pivotal points of their lives.

-- Moses who would one day lead the children of Israel from Egypt’s bondage to freedom first had to confront the fear of leaving his life as a shepherd to square off with Pharoah. 

--The ten scouts sent by Moses to scope out what would be the Promised Land were overcome by fear and, as a result, what was supposed to be an 11 day trip ended up being a 40 year journey through the wilderness.

--When Jonah was instructed by God to go to Ninevah and minister to the people there he was faced with a multitude of fears which ended with him attempting to run away to Joppa only to be the lunch of a fish to calm the fears of the people on board the boat in the middle of a great storm. 

--Even Jesus, God in human form, was fearful as He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane on the night of His arrest. So great was Jesus’ fear His sweat was as drops of blood.

Amazing, isn’t it?

There are countless stories and examples of fear in Scripture from Adam and Eve hiding from God in the Garden of Eden after their act of disobedience (Genesis 3:10) to the servant who hid his coins out of fear of his master (Matthew 25:25). From these examples it’s pretty easy to see fear isn’t anything new. 

Do you know what else fear isn’t? 

Fear isn’t of God! 

2 Timothy 1:7 speaks mighty clearly to this fact. Paul wanted young Timothy to take hold of the point that even though he would feel fear from time to time that fear was of another source apart from God. 

Is there something wrong with us when we feel fear? Absolutely not! Every one of us will find ourselves in fearful situations. We all will deal with this spectre called fear. What we need to do when faced with fear is to remind ourselves where these feelings are actually coming from and, even more importantly, is where they aren’t coming from.

What has God given us? Verse 7 goes on to say we are given a sound mind, a mind in total opposition to the chaos and turmoil that usually goes along with fear. He gave us a spirit of power and one of love. 

I believe the enemy purposely sets us up to be afraid because he knows if he can distract us through fear and uncertainty we will never fulfill the purpose and ministry that God has called us to. He knows if we worry about the opinions of others, if we fear upsetting the basic order of things, if we dare to go against the grain, he will keep us defeated, discouraged, and of no use to the Kingdom. He knows  how unstoppable we will be once we fully determine to shake off these chains of fear and use the gifts given by God to minister to a lost and hurting world. 

Jesus never once promised us we would not experience fear, doubt, trials, or hardships. No where in His teachings will you ever hear Him telling us if we only put our faith and trust in Him we will skate through this world unscathed, unblemished, with nary a word being spoken against us. Just the opposite was said:

     “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]”

It is Jesus who is the giver and producer of love--real, authentic, godly love, so long as we remain rooted, grounded, and grafted in Him. It is Jesus who gives us a renewed mind and renewed discernment and judgment so long as we submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit. It is His strength made perfect in our weakness, His grace made sufficient where we may be found wanting. It is Jesus who has crushed the head of Satan through His shed blood at Calvary, defeating Him once and for all.

Fear has two definitions:

Forget everything and run...

           OR

Face everything and rise…

I choose to face everything and rise..

What say you?