Courage

Fighting Fear with Fear

Wayne A. Mack

• Publisher: P Publishing
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781596389267
• eBook ISBN: 9781596389274
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Fear affects everyone as a result of misplaced faith. Face the heart of your fear and overcome it through Christ.

1

You Can Be Courageous!

Someone once said, “A man who is afraid will do anything.” History has proven that statement true. Fear is a powerful emotion. Fear will prevent you from doing things you normally would do and cause you to do things you normally wouldn’t do. Fear has caused proud men to beg, strong men to cry, loving men to hate, and peaceful men to be filled with fury. Like a slave master, fear is controlling.

You know this from experience. We’ve all heard others say, “I don’t want to talk to that person about Christ; I’m too afraid of his reaction.” “I don’t want to open up about what is really going on in my life; I’m afraid of what others might think.” “I don’t want to obey God; I’m scared of what that will require.” “I don’t want people to get too close to me; then they’ll find out what’s really going on in my heart.” “I don’t want to share my testimony; I’m scared.” “I know I should talk to that person, but I’m afraid of what she’ll think of me.”

Many Christians are controlled by fear. As a result, they are crippled spiritually. They come to church, read the Scriptures, hear God’s Word preached, and know what God wants them to do. But they don’t obey because they are frightened. So they compromise. They live their Christian lives incognito, going to church on Sundays and living like the world the rest of the week. They neglect their gifts and are ashamed of Christ—all as a result of sinful fear.

Fear is a problem for everyone, and it’s a major problem in the Christian life. The Bible makes it clear that fear can paralyze even great men. The apostle Paul was well aware of that. In fact, that was one of Paul’s primary concerns for Timothy as he wrote his second letter to him. Paul was concerned that fear would stop Timothy from living all out for Christ.

Paul wrote this second letter to Timothy from prison. He was anticipating martyrdom. The emperor Nero was acting irrationally; he had just torched the city of Rome and was blaming it on the Christians. Persecution was intensifying. This was not an easy time to be a believer. A number of Paul’s friends had even given up the faith and abandoned him because of their fears (2 Tim. 1:15).

Paul understood that fear could cripple Timothy’s effectiveness for Christ. That’s why he exhorted Timothy, “I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God” (2 Tim. 1:6). Step up, be bold, and use the gift God has given you. In verse 8 Paul went on to encourage Timothy, “Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God.”

Paul didn’t want Timothy to become so afraid of the future that he would stop living for Christ in the present. This was not a time for weakness, it was a time for strength; not a time to hide gifts, rather a time to use them; not a time to shrink back, but to stand strong; not a time for fear, rather a time for courage. “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus,” Paul wrote (2:1). Why? “God has not given us a spirit of fear” (1:7 nkjv).

When we read this passage from the comfort of our recliners, it’s very easy to miss the impact of Paul’s words. Think carefully about what Paul was telling Timothy. He didn’t write, “Timothy, you have nothing to be afraid of. The Christian life is easy!” No, Paul was very blunt. He told Timothy there were going to be consequences for being a Christian. He wrote in verse 8, “Join with me in suffering.” You are going to suffer, but you must not fear!

Paul didn’t mean we aren’t to have any old kind of fear. It’s not wrong to jump when someone says, “Boo!” or to be startled when you’re placed in a frightening situation. The word Paul used for fear describes moral cowardice. He was referring to a sinful fear that would keep Timothy from obeying God and fulfilling his responsibilities. In other words, Paul was telling Timothy, “You must not be controlled by sinful fear. It’s not from God.”

If Paul said this to Timothy, we can be sure he would say the same to us today. Yes, there’s a cost for following after Christ. Yes, difficulties will come into your life. But stop riding the fence. Stop playing both sides. Start wholeheartedly obeying Christ despite what may come. Don’t allow your fear of the future to stop you from fully obeying God now. You don’t have to be paralyzed by fear.

That’s a shocking statement. How could Paul expect us to be courageous when life is so frightening? Isn’t it normal to be afraid of suffering? Doesn’t it make sense to try to avoid it? If you look to the future and know that if you take a particular route you will certainly suffer, wouldn’t it make sense to take a different route? Why shouldn’t we be afraid? Why shouldn’t we shrink back?

The Reason for Courage

That’s the question Paul answered in verse 7. He wrote, “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”

Paul wrote “For,” or in other words, “This is the reason why . . .” You should be courageous because God has not given you a spirit of fear.

To whom was Paul referring? Who is the us in this verse? Just naturally confident people? People with all sorts of abilities? No. Paul meant all believers, regardless of personality, regardless of natural talents and abilities. Not one believer has a right to be characterized by a spirit of fear. That spirit, that attitude is not from God.

Timothy was a naturally timid person, but notice that Paul didn’t allow him to use that as an excuse. He didn’t say, “Poor Timothy. You’re a fearful person. That’s okay. Just hang in there.” Instead Paul began by rebuking Timothy: “Timothy, stop being afraid. It’s not from God. The reason you’re dominated by fear and anxiety is because you’re in sin.”

If you are a non-Christian, you are trapped by your personality. Oh, you may learn some gimmicks and tricks that help you cope with life despite your personality, but you are, basically, enslaved to it. If you are a Christian, however, you have been freed from this kind of slavery.

Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains:

Here is the miracle of redemption. We are given our temperaments by God. . . . All our temperaments are different and that also is of God. Yes, but it must never be true of us as Christians that we are controlled by our temperaments. We must be controlled by the Holy Ghost. You must put them in that order. Here are powers and capacities and here is your particular temperament that uses them, but the vital point is that as a Christian you should be controlled by the Holy Spirit. What is so tragically wrong in a Christian is that he should allow himself to be controlled by his temperament. The natural man is always controlled by his temperament, he cannot help himself; but the difference that regeneration makes is that there is now a higher control even over temperament. The moment the Holy Spirit enters in, He controls everything including our temperament, and so He enables you to function in your own particular way through your temperament. That is the miracle of redemption. Temperament remains, but temperament no longer controls. The Holy Spirit now controls.2

So if you are saying, “I’m fearful because that’s my personality,” or “I just don’t have the strength to be courageous in this situation,” it’s time to throw those excuses out the window. They just don’t work. You may have a naturally timid personality, but you still can be courageous.

Perhaps you are wondering how we can say that when we don’t know your situation—that we couldn’t help but be scared if we were in your shoes.

If those are your thoughts, you are considering yourself to still be the same person you were before God saved you. But you are not the person you used to be. When you see your situation the same way you would if you were still an unbeliever, you are failing to realize what a great gift God has given you.

That was precisely Paul’s point. He was telling Timothy, “You’ve got to pull yourself together and understand that you are not just like everyone else anymore. God has given you the Holy Spirit.” And He is not the “spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ ” (Rom. 8:15).

Once again Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains:

Our fears are due to our failure to stir up, a failure to think, a failure to take ourselves in hand. You find yourself looking to the future and then you begin to imagine things and you say: “I wonder what is going to happen?” And then your imagination runs away with you. You are gripped by the thing; you do not stop to remind yourself of who and what you are, this thing overwhelms you and you go down. Now the first thing you need to do is take a firm grip of yourself, and speak to yourself. As the Apostle puts it, we have to remind ourselves of certain things. . . . The big thing Paul is saying to Timothy is, “Timothy, you seem to be thinking about yourself and your life and all you have to do as if you are still an ordinary person. But Timothy, you are not an ordinary person. You are a Christian, you have the Spirit of God within you.”3

Something tremendous has happened in our lives. We’re not who we used to be. God has given us the Holy Spirit, and He is not a spirit of cowardice. This means there is hope. Your situation may be difficult, but you are not alone!

The Spirit within You

Recently good friends of ours took a trip to Canada. They were on a tight budget, so they carefully planned for the trip, not wanting to spend a cent more than necessary. The wife packed meals for the entire family for each and every day. They stayed in a nice hotel, but ate all their meals in their room. At the end of the week, as they checked out of the hotel, they learned that the hotel had been offering a special that week—lunch at the hotel restaurant had been included in the price of the room! They had missed out on having free lunches because they were unaware of the resources available to them.

Many Christians live their lives the same way. They’ve never considered the resources that are available to them in Christ, so they fail to take advantage of the privileges that belong to them. The result? They live like nonbelievers.

You see, the world says, “The key to courage is self-confidence.” But face the facts. You aren’t that great; you aren’t that powerful; you don’t have control over all situations; and if you are trusting in yourself, you’re going to be sorely disappointed. You’re going to let yourself down. You can believe in yourself all you want, but that’s not going to stop your plane from crashing. You can be completely self-confident, but that won’t...

Table of contents

• Contents
• Foreword
• 1. You Can Be Courageous!
• 2. Guard Your Heart
• 3. Face to Face with Fear
• 4. Trapped!
• 5. Getting to the Heart of the Problem
• 6. Throw Off the Covers
• 7. The Way Up Is Down
• 8. God’s Game Plan
• 9. Be Afraid— Be Very Afraid
• 10. The Fear That Is Good for You
• 11. The Fear That Overcomes Fear
• 12. Yes, but How?
• 13. Learning from the Master
• 14. A Call for Courage
• Also by Wayne A. Mack
• Notes