Day 23 - Take the Power

A Weightless Devotional

“For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
—2 Timothy 1:7

Fear is an impostor. It walks in and takes a seat at the table without so much as an invitation. Like an unwanted guest at your table, fear leans in and whispers in your ear, and suddenly you’re trapped in a conversation about the worst-case scenarios that “most likely” await you tomorrow, and before you know it, the joy is sucked out of the room, and fear has everyone around you eyeing the exit.

Like a seasoned con man, fear tells you, “I belong here, and you should trust me. I can make your future more to your liking—safer and more secure.”

All the while, it’s destroying your present, as you buy into its lies. You test its waters with a toe. It seems good, sensible, and easy to enter into. Before you know it, you’ve walked into fear’s wake and are enveloped—your spirit fully sinking into it.

But God’s Word offers a way out. To stop riding the wave and being driven and tossed about by the wind of fear, you can rely on three things: power, love, and self-control.

It should come as no surprise that these three things are a gift from God. They are given to us in the power of His Spirit, which we receive when we first believe. That doesn’t mean we always listen to His still, small voice, but His voice is there all the same, and so is His power, love, and self-control.

Jesus assures us that we receive His power when the Holy Spirit comes on us: the power that raised Jesus from the dead. That’s the power we are talking about here— the power that allows us to overcome fear and the all-too-loud, fearful voice that attempts to drown out all sense. Forgetting the strength that we have within, we jump out of the lifeboat of God’s might and plunge headfirst into the dangerous waters of our own puny power. That puny power then exhausts itself analyzing fear’s promptings and sending us in the direction fear dictates, as if there is no greater power at our disposal than our own. Is it any wonder that fear wins? We alone are no match for its whispers.

The same Spirit that gives us the power of God at our fingertips also gives us the ability to love.

What’s love got to do with it?

The opposite of love isn’t always hate—it’s often selfishness. Selfishness and fear feed each other in a vicious cycle. Fear creates the perfect soil for self-protection and self-preoccupation to grow. Then, as we focus more on ourselves, our selfishness only deepens our fear—trapping us in a loop of anxiety and inward living.