“For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7
Fear can come from many places in our lives. It may stem from things that we have experienced or just imagined. People may push fear on us, or we may cultivate it ourselves. Most of what we fear isn’t real, will never happen, or is something we can do nothing about. But, for some reason, we still listen to the voice of fear. It is a powerful force.
I despise fear. It is such an effective weapon that Satan and my sin nature uses against me. It magnifies my insecurities, keeps me from growing spiritually, and paralyzes me from doing what I should. It causes me to question God’s calling and direction for my life.
God doesn’t want me to live with fear influencing my life; His Spirit should direct me. So, God helps me overcome the voice of fear, sometimes in interesting ways.
Years ago, our family was vacationing at a camp in Michigan. One afternoon I was at the high ropes course, infamously known as the “Quadzilla”, watching my kids go down a zip line 40 feet in the air. A parent next to me asked if I was planning to go as well. I said, “No”.
I don’t like heights and tend to avoid them when possible. But my response to this fellow parent sparked a conversation in my head. I have a lot of these little talks, and God is usually one of the voices in the exchange.
“Tony, why aren’t you going on the zip line?” the voiced asked. “Because I’m afraid of heights,” I said. “You’re afraid?” “Yes, I’m afraid”. “So, how long are you going to let fear tell you what you are, or aren’t, going to do?” the voice said. I didn’t have a good answer.
Deep down, I didn’t want fear to run my life. God had challenged me to make a change. So, I reluctantly did the only thing I could think of; I took-on the “Quadzilla”. I climbed the 40 foot wall, went down the zip line and the “screamer swing”, and climbed to the top of the 25 foot “pamper pole” and jumped off. It took me four days, but I did them all.
I received a discount card toward an “I Tamed the Quadzilla” t-shirt. I skipped the shirt and kept the card. I stuck it in my Bible to remind me that fear cannot be in control of my life. Many years later I worked at that camp. One of my jobs was to run that same zip line which I previously was afraid to go down. The fear didn’t completely go away, but it was no longer in charge.
Fear cannot be in control of our lives. If God didn’t put it there, something unholy did. We can’t live a life-changing walk with Jesus with the voice of fear calling the shots. How should we deal with it? We stand on the truth of what scripture states about us as children of God. Fear is a liar and a cheat, so we don’t believe it when it speaks. And, we must listen to and obey that other voice in our heads, the one that sounds like God.
