For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;
but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
~2 Timothy 1:7
“I rock at karaoke,” I wrote on the piece of paper, smiling at the audacity of my “false fact” in a guessing game at a recent Christmas party. The truth is, it has always terrified me.
Do you live with fear? Mine range from the serious—like a fear of swimming (I make certain my kids learn how, so that they don’t share this)—to the trivial.
My 15-year-old son told me in advance that he planned a duet with me at the New Year’s Party we attended Friday night. He put his arm around me and we sang into that mic and I faced my silly fear.
2 Timothy 1:17 not only tells us that God doesn’t give us a spirit of fear, but what he does give us: power, love, and a sound mind. Whenever I have an unreasonable fear, this is the verse that puts it in perspective for me.
On the way home from the New Year’s party, I pondered whether this should be a year of drawing on the power, love, and sound mind that He gives me to battle the fears that He doesn’t. Starting small is okay.
Do you struggle with fears, large or small?
Please visit the other ladies participating in 31 Days of Ministry Online at A Woman Inspired:
- Amy Bayliss – 31 Days of Heart Matters
- Karin – 31 Days of Intentional Parenting
- Jen – 31 Days of Social Media
- Lisa Boyd – 31 Days of WordPress
- Karen Lewis – 31 Days of Praise
- A Martha Heart – 31 Days of Prayer
Links to all posts in this series, by topic, can be found here.
FEAR: False Evidence Appearing Real <—just saying it sorta empowers you, but it also makes you think "No…it's not false, I really am scared!"
My youngest son was born with Spina Bifida in 2008… I face big & small fears every day. And, sometimes I tend to let the fears of the unknown get the best of me. :-/
Sigh. Don’t we all? Ironically, I never thought of myself as particularly fearful, but it has crept into more areas of my life than I care to admit. While I’m not the same person I was 10, 15, 20 years ago, much of that is for the better, but there are some areas that have changed that aren’t better; rather, they’ve become controlled by stupid fears. I’ve known this verse for years and taught it to my oldest when he had irrational fears. It’s one of the earliest verses he ever memorized on his own. Perhaps this will be the year for me, too, to overcome. 🙂
2011 is the year to FACE ones fear. If you believe in GOD then you know that everything is possible with him. As we make our goals for the year we have to TRUST that God can do what he says he can do. Nothing is impossible for God.
Hi Dawn! I’m am sooo looking forward to each day of encouragement & being blessed by God through you. What a GREAT way to start each day this month 🙂 Fear & worry are one of my “problem areas” that I’m constatnly lifting up in prayer. This was a GREAT post! Thank You for doing this!
Fear paralyzes. Fear cripples. The devil uses it to stop us in our tracks and keep us from serving God in our fullest capacity.
I have a lot of fears… but greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world! God always equips us and prepares us for what He has called us to do.
Sheri: FEAR: False Evidence Appearing Real—I love it!
Dianne, I would love to overcome fears this year, too (and hopefully bigger than karaoke). 🙂
Tiffany, my mom always told me the things we fear the most often end up being not nearly so bad as what we expected. Sometimes it’s the fear itself that’s crippling.
That is the main thing to remember: nothing is impossible for God.
Kim, thank you! I hope this month blesses us both. 🙂
Marsha, you are such an inspiration to me.