2 Timothy 1:7 KJV
[7] For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Fear and anxiety pervade our society. Every which way we turn there is something to be afraid of. Terrorist are running rampant in our schools, our workplace, our malls and even our churches. We worry about all manner of harm happening to our children, how we will care for our elderly parents as their health declines or what if, Lord forbid, we get cancer! Doctors prescribe antidepressants like they are magical and opioids as if they are a panacea for everything. I'm nearly depressing myself just writing the introduction to this article. I pray I'm not stressing and losing my readers too much by this paragraph.

If God has not given us this spirit of fear, who did? Genesis 3 tells us that we brought fear upon ourselves. Mankind brought fear into the Earth when the first man Adam chose to disobey God, choosing our own path. You know the story, both Adam’s and Eve’s eyes were opened when they believed Satan’s lie, and they knew good and evil. Realizing that they had sinned against God’s promises, fear immediately entered into their hearts, and they tried to hide themselves from the presence of the Lord. Then God calls them out when the Lord asks the ultimate question, which has echoed throughout the ages:
Genesis 3:9
“And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?”

Before mankind chose to seek our own path, both Adam and Eve knew only well-being, because God took care of all their needs. Adam's classic response to the Lord God's question is given in the next verse:

Genesis 3:10 KJV
[10] And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

Anyone who reads my articles both in this printed paper and at www.historicunioncounty.com knows that I am a huge proponent of context. So, I would be remiss if I did not point out some of the context of 2 Timothy 1:7. The Apostle Paul is in Rome awaiting his execution, his race is nearly run, and the good fight for Paul is almost over. (See Acts 28: 1-31, 1 Corinthians 9:24, 2 Timothy 4:7) The epistle we know as 2 Timothy is Paul’s love letter to his dearly beloved son Timothy, which he has begotten by the Gospel of Christ. It contains Paul’s final instructions to Timothy regarding the care of the Gentile Churches, both before and after Paul’s death.

Second Timothy is a short letter in which Paul covers much ground. If one has not diligently studied the Acts of the Apostles, written by Luke the Gentile Physician, plus all of Paul’s other letters and even what Peter had to say about Paul in 2 Peter 3, you will miss or not understand much of what he is communicating to Timothy. Many of the things which Paul explains throughout his writings about fear, are not because Paul was some kind of superhuman which never experienced fear, but rather for exactly the opposite reason. Paul was an expert on fear because he not only experienced fear, but before his conversion to Christianity, Paul inflicted fear on many. Before Paul’s road to Damascus conversion, he was what we call today a terrorist!

I would be lying if I told my readers that they can name or claim certain Bible verses and be instantly and completely cured from fear in this life. Jesus Himself acknowledged that in this world His disciples would have tribulation, but they could take hope in that He had overcome the world. In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” is a metaphor for fear. Paul ask the Lord three times to remove this “messenger of Satan” which again is a metaphor that should make us hearken back to Genesis 3 in which, “that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan” deceived the whole world with his lie to Eve first and then Adam. (See Revelation 12:9) The Lord replies: “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”

In a few words Paul is communicating a lifetime of experiences to Timothy on how to deal with problems the world will throw at him. These problems are a consequence of both Satan’s hate for God’s Christ and because of mistakes we make because we are human. The ultimate point and the real key to overcoming fear is that we fight the good fight, which victorious Jesus has already won for us. I wanted to cover much more that the Word says on this subject and I thought about closing with Revelation 21 verses 1-4, but I will close with part of Paul’s final charge to Timothy:

2 Timothy 4:7-8
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”