Break free of the fear

I was reading my Bible and a couple verses really struck me.  Apparently it has hit home before because it was underlined from a previous read and through these verses God really spoke to me about an insecurity or fear that I have.  The verses are 2 Timothy 1: 8-10

 ⁸So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, ⁹who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, ¹⁰but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

These verses are important because one thing that I sometimes struggle with is sharing the things that God is doing in my life.  I know that I am not the only one that struggles with this, there are others.  However, in reading this I felt was as though God stepped right out of my Bible and said it right to my face.  Those words had such a powerful impact on me.  I know that in order to be a doer of the word I need to be able to step put of my comfort zone and express the things that the Lord is doing in my life and on my heart.  If I am to make an impact on other people in this world then I cannot fear sharing Him.  In order to lead by example I need to be comfortable speaking about things He has done and is doing.  

I struggle with this probably for fear of ridicule.  That people will not be receptive to what I have to say.  Although I know that I cannot and will not always reach people on a deeper level, or that they will want to hear anything that I have to say, I at least have to try.  There are so many incredible things that He has done for me and the things that He still continues to do in my life and on my heart are amazing.  We cannot allow the enemy to get inside our hearts and minds and tell lies to us and make us insecure about our faith and our Savior.  This is what Paul was trying to convey to Timothy while he was in prison and facing certain death.  

Despite everything that Paul had been through and how much he had been ridiculed for his faith, he still continued to preach and testify about the Lord.  He did not allow fears or insecurities to control his actions.  But rather, he pressed forward and reached out to Timothy, encouraging him to never be ashamed of what the Lord is doing.  Paul knew that his time was coming to an end and he needed to someone to take his place and continue to do the Lord's work.  This is why he wrote his letters to him.  To encourage him to fight through this battle and to never be afraid or ashamed.  

There is something greater than ourselves and our lives here on earth that we are fighting for. We are fighting a battle against an enemy that is prominent everywhere we turn.  He is all over the place, telling lies to us, hurting us, tempting us with superficial things that we believe will make us feel better about ourselves.  He is constantly working against us, all the while making us believe that we truly be better off.  He is a manipulator and evil liar.  This battle is one that can only be won with the help of Jesus.  Jesus saved us from our impending death and eternal suffering in hell.  So to be ashamed and to not speak His name in public and share His good news with others is sinful.  It is wrong to be scared.  And there are many times when I am scared.  I have never been ashamed, but I have been scared.  And I know that I need to let go of this.  

I need to not be so protective of the relationship I have with the Lord.  I need to share what He is doing in my life.  I need to tell others and encourage them by example.  We reach to people on a much deeper level when we can actually relate to them.  And even if we have never been in their particular situation, there is a reason as to why God had us cross paths and why we are being presented with the opportunity to speak to them.   Therefore we all need to let go and let God.  Most of us have heard that phrase one too many times.  But it is because it is true.  When we try and do things on our own, almost all of the time we fall short.  We worry too much and we stress ourselves out on things that are out of our hands or our capabilities.  That is when we need to give it to God and allow Him to handle our situation.  We need to remain faithful.  And if you have never done this before, I would encourage you to try it.  Talk to God.  Tell Him your problems, your worries, and your complaints.   Give it up to Him.  Ask Him to take control of your life and your situation because He will.  He will absolutely do that.  No matter how big or how small the situation is, God wants it.  He wants us to look to Him and be faithful.  Once you do that you will see Him work in your life and things will get better.  And when they do, go and tell someone!  Share what He has done with other people.  Be that example that He has called us to be.  

Paul tells Timothy in verse 8 to come and suffer with him over the gospel.  The deeper we go the deeper we will suffer.  The more we share God, the more people in this world will persecute us and ridicule us and call us names and try to make us feel inadequate and inferior.  But that is the beauty in being a Christ follower.  Jesus was crucified over the things He said and did.  Now we most likely will not be crucified, for in this new millennium we really don't do that type of execution anymore, however we may be crucified in the context of people yelling at us and refusing to listen to us.  That though is the enemy once again working against us through other people.  

Verse 9 tells us that we were called to a holy life.  We are sanctioned to testify about Christ and through grace we are saved.  Just because we lead good lives and are nice to people does not mean that we will gain admission into Heaven.  Despite all the good things we do on earth, if we do not ask Jesus into our hearts and follow Him then all that niceness will all go to waste.  We are saved by grace and grace alone.  Not by our good deeds.  God does not have a chart up in heaven with Him that He puts a gold star next to our name anytime we are nice to someone or do a good deed.  He looks upon that with favor, but that will NOT get us into Heaven.  And by believing that, we are once again listening to a lie from the enemy.  He wants us to believe that's all it takes not so that we can spend an eternity in Heaven, but rather so that we can spend an eternity in hell with him.  

Jesus loves us that's why He came to earth and died for us.  Because of His sacrifice and His pain and suffering, we too can spend an eternity with Him.  If someone on this earth sacrificed their life for you and saved you from death, would you not go and tell everyone you know?  You would be on the news and talk shows speaking about it, and you would probably even write a book about it.  Why?   Because someone gave themselves up for you and you feel blessed to be alive and appreciative that they would show so much love and compassion for little 'ole you.  Am I right?  Now, why in the world are we so afraid to do the same for Jesus?  Why are we afraid to talk about Him and what the Holy Spirit is doing in our hearts?  Because when a human saves us, we get a pat on the back and everyone wants to hear our story because we all need something good to believe in and frankly people will always let us down.  So it is rare when someone makes an incredible sacrifice for another person.  Yet Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for the ENTIRE world!  And yet we don't want to hear it and we are afraid and ashamed to talk about it.  We don't put people on the news because they came to know Christ or because the Lord has done an incredible thing with their life.  No, we just call them Bible thumpers and Jesus freaks and make fun of them and put them down.  So maybe if we stopped putting people down and just listened to them we could get over our fear and spread the good news like we were commissioned to do.  

I will fight through this battle and continue to get over my fears that have been instilled in me through the work of the enemy in other people's ridicule.  I will overcome and I will not be afraid.  Psalm 23, one of the most famous of the Psalms says this 

¹ The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

    ² He makes me lie down in green pastures, 
       he leads me beside quiet waters,

    ³ he restores my soul. 
       He guides me in paths of righteousness 
       for his name's sake.

    ⁴ Even though I walk 
       through the valley of the shadow of death, ^[a] 
       I will fear no evil, 
       for you are with me; 
       your rod and your staff, 
       they comfort me.

    ⁵ You prepare a table before me 
       in the presence of my enemies. 
       You anoint my head with oil; 
       my cup overflows.

    ⁶ Surely goodness and love will follow me 
       all the days of my life, 
       and I will dwell in the house of the LORD 
       forever.

And because of this I will not be afraid because I know that the Lord is with me all the days of my life.  He will comfort me and protect me and at the end of the day I will know that I am a Christ follower that is loved unconditionally.  I will break free of my chains.