We have all faced those moments in life when we feel rather timid or afraid to do something. Sometimes doubt and fear arises from deep within us and it stifles the truth. For example picture a young child who is standing at the side of a swimming pool and their parent is standing in the pool urging the child to jump into their waiting arms. The parent comforts the child with kind loving words, "It is alright. I will catch you."
The child knows that the parent loves him or her. They know the truth of that love because they have experienced it everyday since they were born, but at this moment their fear overrides the truth that they know so plainly.
Sometimes we do that with the Lord. We know the truth of who He is and that He promises to always to be with us each step of the way throughout our lives, but sometimes we allow fear to take a hard grip upon us. It's not that we don't know the truth about who God is, but we allow doubt and fear to grow bigger than our faith in an awesome loving God who is bigger than any fear that we will ever face.
There will be times in every Christians life when we will feel discouraged. There will be times when our fears seem so big that we just want to run away and hide on a small tropical island somewhere in the Caribbean where it doesn't snow and rain all the time (Maybe I have thought about that way too much).
When we are serving the Lord we will face difficulties and challenges. There will be times when doubt knocks at the door of our hearts and minds. It is in those moments we must take courage and not be afraid to ask questions. We must seek the Lord in prayer and through reading the Bible. We also should seek wisdom from the Lord and from other followers of Christ who are living in the Spirit and are grounded in the truth of God's Word.
I am reminded of a verse of Scripture that we spoke about tonight at a Bible study that attended which is found in 2 Timothy 1:6-7 which says,
"For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God,
which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity,
but s spirit of power,
of love and of self-discipline."
The Apostle Paul was trying to encourage Timothy to fan into flame the gift that God had placed in him. Timothy may have been starting to grow timid and fear may have been clouding his vision.
Sometimes discouragement can do that to us. We may be living for the Lord and we are using our gifts that the Lord blessed us with and then we hit a rough patch. We may feel like giving up or we may feel backed into a corner.
We must remember to submit to the Holy Spirit and fan into flame the gift that the Lord has given to us no matter how small of a gift that may seem to us. The Lord doesn't want us to be timid, but He wants us to trust Him. The Holy Spirit will empower us to use those gifts to draw people to Jesus if we just rely on Him to work through us. We must remember to be well grounded in God's Word and we ought to be self-disciplined.
Let us fan into flame the gif that the Lord has blessed us with for His Glory, Honor, and Praise. Let us not be timid, but let us trust Him to lead us and to empower us to do His will.
Lord,
We praise Your Name.
You are Holy and Just in Your Judgments.
Help us not to be timid and just lean upon You.
Lead us and guide us by Your Holy Spirit.
In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen.
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