2 Timothy 1:7 “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
Billy Graham’s daughter, Ruth Graham has written the book ‘Fear Not Tomorrow for God is Already There’. In it she leads us to shift our focus away from ourselves, from our traumatising fears and to turn to God.
This is how she describes fear:
“Fear takes the air out of life. When we live with fear, we lose our capacity for fun and spontaneity. We struggle to love others wholeheartedly. Sometimes we experience fear as torment. Torment is not God’s will for us. God is committed to our peace.”
The “spirit of fear” that we read of in 2 Timothy 1:7 is that all pervasive condition or attitude that takes hold of our feelings and consumes and cripples us. That’s the fear from which we need to be free.
Though we may never be totally free from heartache, depression, betrayal, rejection, anxiety and fear, in Jesus Christ we are promised victory over their reign of terror – victory over all the consequences of sin in our fallen world:
Romans 6:14 “For sin shall no longer be your master…“
Why? Because in Christ we are under grace! Under the banner of the faithfulness and the goodness of God! We are not only saved by grace, we are also sanctified, renewed, transformed, upheld and protected by God’s amazing grace!
John 1:16 “Of His fullness have we all received, grace upon grace.”