Fan Away Fear

I’ve often been told that the art of writing well is to write what you know.

 

One thing I know is fear.

 

Sometimes I know it better than I’d like to. It greets me like an all too familiar friend and I settle with it, skipping the small talk and jumping straight into old habits. On other occasions, though, I can recognise its unwelcome presence and I remind myself of God’s truth in the face of it.

 

Can you relate? Do you ever find yourself fearful? Anxious? Worried about things, however big or small they may seem to others?

 

Over the next couple of weeks, I want to explore some ideas surrounding fear and anxiety, not because I’ve mastered a solution. By no means is that the case! I want to explore it, because I know that it’s the enemy who comes to steal our peace, kill our joy and destroy our hope… BUT GODpromises life, and life in abundance. (John 10:10)

 

If fear and anxiety are things you can find yourself facing from time to time, why don’t you journey with me over the next couple of weeks as we open up God’s word together?

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 gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:6-7)

 

“For this reason…”- Timothy (the young man who Paul was writing to here) was a steadfast believer. Yes, he was young, but he wasn’t easily moved by the various things the world had to throw at him. His mother and grandmother before him taught him in the ways of the Lord. Paul makes clear though, that this is no reason to coast. Being firm in your faith is never the same as ‘I’ve made it!’ In fact, it’s quite the opposite!

 

“Fan into flame…”- Essentially Paul is telling Timothy here to ‘feed the fire’! God is not satisfied with anything lukewarm. (We read more about this in Revelation 3:16).  We’re also told in 1 Thessalonians 5:19 not to quench the spirit. This ‘fan into flame’ idea runs along these same lines. If we do not feed our faith by praying, worshiping, getting into God’s Word and practically loving and serving people, the fire will eventually burn out.

 

When the fire of faith is no longer hot, we can begin to allow all sorts of ideas to enter our minds. We can even begin to believe the enemies lies. It’s like when you’ve not eaten for ages and you’re starving. So you pick up the most convenient and closest thing to you regardless of its nutritional value, or anything else for that matter.

 

Lies can start to sound good when we’re starved of truth.

 

We need to feed this fire in order to keep our firm standing. This journey with Jesus is a continual one. The good news though, is that the faith we profess, this precious gift of God, is already inside of us (See the end of verse 6). All we need to do is feed it!

 

We’ll dive into verse 7 next week, but it’s important to get the foundations laid before we try and build. So, what will your foundation be this week? Fear? Or Faith? Choose to water the seed of faith which is already within you and, before we’ve even dived into the verse which actually mentions fear, you’ll recognise that the lies are starting to sound a lot quieter than they once did.

Naomi AidooComment