What Is the Origin of Fear?

2 Timothy 1:1-18 Today’s New Testament reading is one of my favorite scriptures. I have memorized 2 Timothy 1:7, and I use it often against the enemy as an effective sword of the spirit to wound him when he tries to wound me through fear. Listen to this wonderful scripture: “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

Fear will always come knocking at our door throughout our lives. We must, however, learn how to slam the door in its face when Satan uses this wicked weapon against us. If Satan can get us to be afraid, then we lose the ability to resist him, and he knows this.

I had an experience with fear that almost robbed me of a trip to Israel. My husband was thinking of taking our two oldest boys and me to Israel with a tour our church was sponsoring. I was enthusiastic about the trip until I received a call from my prayer partner. My prayer partner called me before we made our final decision on whether to take this trip or not. My prayer partner told me about a lovely vision she had of our whole family riding in a chariot in heaven. She said she saw us all dressed in white with crowns on our heads. She thought she was telling me something that would edify. However, all I could see was our whole family going down over the ocean in a Boeing 747. I hung up the phone, paralyzed with fear.

The next day I told my husband I decided not to go on the trip to Israel, but he could go and take the two oldest boys while I stayed behind with the youngest boy. He had no idea why I suddenly had a change of mind. Later that week I was traveling in my car, and my thoughts about all I had to do that day were interrupted by this thought: “Where does fear come from?” Immediately I remembered 2 Timothy 1:7, and I knew God never gives a spirit of fear to anyone. Then I heard in my spirit this thought: “Satan is trying to rob you of a great blessing.” I knew these thoughts came from the Lord, and upon returning from a full day of errands, I told my husband I wanted to go to Israel.

That trip to Israel was my first, and since that time I have been seven times. My husband and I lead tours every two years to Israel. The blessing Satan was trying to rob me from was seeing my husband and two sons baptized in the Jordan River. What a joy to see my family affirm their faith this way, and this had been my desire for all of them for years.

We cannot allow a spirit of fear to ever dictate to us what we will do in the future because if we do, we will always be robbed of a blessing. Today you might want to make a resolve with me to send Jesus to answer the door for you if fear comes knocking at the door of your heart.

Lord, forgive me for the times I have allowed fear to rob me of blessings.

READ: Jeremiah 39:1-41:18; 2 Timothy 1:1-18; Psalm 90:1-91:16; Proverbs 26:1-2