We all have places in our lives where we can feel paralyzed by fear and intimidation. Welcome to the human race.

Way back in my younger days as a squirrely junior high kid, I lived on the island of Guam for a season of my life.  My dad decided to pick one of the most beautiful places near the South Pacific to take up residency and run a business.  It was a much different lifestyle than my southern California upbringing- and, it’s a small island, so it’s easy to feel cramped and get “island fever”.  But one thing Guam has that California doesn’t: beautiful expansive coral reefs and crystal clear aqua blue water with water temps in the low to mid 80’s. Not too shabby.  When I wasn’t in school or at karate class, I would be spearfishing in Agana Bay, just steps away from our condo.  All I needed was a mask, snorkel, and a spear gun (dangerous for a kid like me).  My friends and I would spear fish in the shallow reef areas where we felt comfortable – and safe.  It was an area we were familiar with.  If you have ever been snorkeling or diving in tropical reefs, there are plenty of dangers to watch for, not the least of which are poisonous fish.  Even though we would stay in the familiar areas, I was always a little afraid of, well, everything that was potentially dangerous.  There was always the fear of being bitten by a moray eel, stepping on an extremely venomous rock fish, or just cutting myself on sharp coral (which happened plenty of times).

One particular day our older friends decided to break tradition and go beyond our relatively safe and familiar shallow reef area; they decided to go beyond the reef. To get there one has to go further out toward open sea, beyond where the waves crash.  Our older friends were spearing much larger fish out there as my younger friends and I would watch them from afar.  Although there was a desire to see what I was missing, I never wanted to go out that far.  To me, going beyond the reef represented increased risk, danger, and unpredictability.  In my young mind, everything was bigger, more dangerous, and more terrifying out there.  In short, I was intimidated by the prospect of such an endeavor.  Now, at age 53, as I look back on my life I can see a pattern of fear and feeling intimidated that wasn’t just limited to going past the reef.  This kind of fear would keep me from going past certain points in life. I can cite example after example, but to spare you the pain of all that, let’s get to the point of this blog.

We all have places in our lives where we can feel paralyzed by fear and intimidation. Welcome to the human race.  Even those who look the strongest and seem the most confident, though they may not admit it, have to battle fear, intimidation, and the lack of confidence.  And this can keep us from moving forward and accomplishing our God given tasks and using our God given gifts in our lives.  They can in fact keep us from ever realizing God’s amazing grace and power at work in places in our lives where we may need it most.  In moments where we are to boldly move forward, fear and intimidation can paralyze us to the point of inaction.

Paul felt it necessary to encourage Timothy to not shrink back in the face of intimidating circumstances.

In the apostle Paul’s’ second letter to Timothy, Paul felt it necessary to encourage Timothy to not shrink back in the face of intimidating circumstances. To fully appreciate why, we have to look at some historical context. The church was being established and persecution was expected among those who chose to follow Christ.  Paul himself had suffered, been imprisoned, flogged, stoned, shipwrecked, beaten multiple times, and…shall I go on? You can read a more full account of his sufferings in 2 Corinthians 11:23-33.  That’s enough to intimidate anyone from wanting to be a Christian let alone actually do anything in the name of Christ.  In 2 Timothy 1:6-7, Paul, Timothy’s mentor, encourages him to “fan into flame” the gift that Timothy already possesses.  He further goes on to say in verse 7 that God has given him (and us) a spirit “not of timidity”, but of power, love, and self-discipline.  The Greek word used here is “deilia”, which translates into “cowardice” and “timidity”.  This particular word is used only one time In the New Testament, in contrast to the more common Greek word “phobos” which is usually used to communicate fear. There is something about the context that warrants the specific use of the word for cowardice or timid.  It’s simple, Paul doesn’t want his protégé, Timothy, to be intimidated.  There are a multitude of reasons that Timothy has to be afraid, to cower in fear.  Among some of them are his age and experience (1 Timothy 4:12), the current resistance to the gospel in his culture, Paul’s own suffering, and the fear of his own well-being and safety.  Let’s also throw in the probability that Timothy has his own internal struggles to face.  I don’t think it’s a stretch that he could have battled feeling under-qualified, ill-equipped and certainly health issues (1 Tim 5:23).  So what does Paul want Timothy to do?

Paul wants Timothy to recognize that the Holy Spirit, which already indwells Timothy, and every other believer in Christ for that matter, is a gift from God that distinguishes that we are His. It’s an amazing truth that believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13), the guarantee of our inheritance.  Simply put, it is God’s mark on our lives that sets us apart as His own. What an awesome privilege to not only be indwelt, but empowered by His spirit.

His indwelling and empowering spirit is not characterized by cowardice.

Further, His indwelling and empowering spirit is not characterized by cowardice.  If Timothy was feeling intimidated, and unable to move forward in the full expression of his gifts for the service of Christ, then it would be as though he had the resources to accomplish something, and then chose to not tap into those resources. Timothy had intimidating giants to face. However, Paul reassures him that the spirit that indwells him is not from a natural origin, but supernatural as it is God’s spirit characterized by His power (dunamis), love (agape), and self-control (sophronismos). So he is encouraged to not be intimidated by his circumstances, whether they be natural or supernatural, because “greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

So let me make this more personal as it relates to you and me.  We all have to face intimidating circumstances.  We all have things in our lives that cause us to lose our confidence and cower in fear and timidity.  Sometimes it paralyzes us.   Let’s put ourselves in Timothy’s shoes, with different challenges and circumstances than his, and hear the Lord encourage us through the words of the apostle Paul.  As true believers in Christ, we have the necessary resources to accomplish what we are called to do, even in the face of extremely intimidating circumstances.

To be clear, the point here isn’t to think of God and His spirit as some sort of personal resource so that we overcome our fears and advance our own agendas. Paul’s words to Timothy weren’t for his personal growth and benefit to be more successful as a person and to realize his greatest potential for himself.  As if Christ paid for our sins so we can continue to live for the promotion of self.  That’s about as far from the gospel as we can get. This is about recognizing that Who we serve has bestowed gifts and given us His resources that we are to use at His service and to advance His agenda.  To not do so would be a travesty and a sin.  The false humility and heretical mindset that says “don’t step out” because you have “nothing to offer” is, can I just put it bluntly, heretical.  This is all about the Lord and His kingdom.  Sometimes it’s hard to see past ourselves to get the bigger picture here. This really isn’t about me, or you, or Timothy, it’s about Christ and living for Him.

There is a stewardship at stake here.

In another passage Paul tells Timothy not to “neglect the gift within you” (1 Timothy 4:14).  In a sense, neglecting His gift is like saying to God, “no thanks”.  There is a stewardship at stake here. In Jesus’ the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), each were entrusted with a stewardship, but out of fear one buried his. Let’s just say he wasn’t the hero of the story.

There are plenty of external and internal things to intimidate us as Christians today.  In some parts of the world Christians face persecution simply because of their faith in Christ, similar to what Timothy would have faced.  Today here in the west, Christians are intimidated by lawsuits and threats of expulsion from social circles for an adherence to a Bible deemed as antiquated, biased, non-inclusive, and non-PC.  We have our own internal struggles of confidence, self-worth, and even issues with things like age and health.  These can cause us to shrink back from the call of God on our lives. I will admit I have battled my share of intimidation and acting like a coward, but that is not an excuse to neglect to “fan into flame” His gift, and use the supernatural resources provided us.

Fan into flame the gift of God that is in you and recognize that the Spirit that indwells you is not timid or cowardly. 

We all have been given gifts to steward for His glory.  As I continue to grow in my faith, and look down the road toward my later years, I realize more than ever that this really isn’t about me, my plans, or my gifts.  This is all about God and His plans.  The awesome thing is that I get to partner with Him as He chooses to use me, and you, to accomplish His purposes here on earth.  Fan into flame the gift of God that is in you and recognize that the Spirit that indwells you is not timid or cowardly.  As we step out in bold faith, He will provide the necessary resources to carry on.

It’s like going beyond the reef, which I finally did one day in Guam.  My friend Joe and I decided to get past the fear and take the plunge, literally.  We carefully swam our way around the reef barriers that we never wanted to cross.  The last hurdle was to get past the crashing waves before we were beyond the reef.  I clearly remember Joe going out first as I watched him get past the waves.  If there were sharks waiting for us, he would be the one to get eaten, not me.  After a moment of him looking down with his snorkel and mask, he looked up and yelled out “it’s Beautiful!”  I wasted no time and dove through the waves to get beyond the reef and was amazed at the beauty of what I saw.  I remember thinking to myself that I would have never experienced this had I allowed the fear to keep me from ever going beyond the reef.  Even more so, if we shrink back from what we are supposed to do because of fear and intimidation, we will miss out on the beauty of God and what He is capable of doing in and through us.