“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7
Paul’s charge to Timothy is primarily a challenge for him to share the Gospel – to resist being timid and to walk in the authority he has in Christ. To boldly profess the revelation of whom Christ was and is. He challenged Timothy to guard his mind from the things that would diminish his passion, such as doubt, fear, and circumstances.
I entitled this “Jump In” Part 2 because I have seen a lot of sequels and it is true that the original is normally the best; it is rare that a sequel is better. While on vacation in beautiful Virginia Beach, we were swimming and my two year old was eyeing the pool. I watched her get closer and closer, and I could see it in her eyes that she wanted to jump in. I told here her, “Hannah, you only come in with Daddy.” Even though I said it 30 times, she is only 2. (She had gone to all the swimming lessons with her brothers and had seen Joshua’s infamous jump) Within 10 seconds she was standing on the edge, and as I went underwater to get to her, when I came up she was gone. Panicking I looked around to see her coming up from the bottom. As a panicking parent would, I grabbed her and carried her to the side. She was stunned with eyes open, looking like “what just happened?” Within a few seconds she was fine and as we tried to reprimand her, she laughed!
From the child’s perspective Hannah was nervous, but she had seen her brother swim and jump in the pool over and over for the past few weeks, so even though she was apprehensive she jumped in without fear. When it comes to our kids we get frustrated at times with their behavior. I hear parents say “I am not like that, where do they get this from?” My first place of examination is myself, then my wife, and then the siblings. I have come to the revelation that they see it modeled somewhere and eventually they will mimic what they’ve seen or heard. The temptation is to blame everything on everyone else but ourselves. As we examine ourselves it is humbling to see the example we are truly leaving. Another perspective is to look at that of our spiritual hunger; have we truly discovered who Christ is and has it revolutionalized our lives? Are we sold out to the Kingdom with reckless abandonment—so that no matter what may come our way we stand firm in love and zeal for God? Fear will cripple us from spiritual growth personally as well as socially. The enemy wants us to live in fear, and if we choose to live there we will not be the manifested, multiplied, mobilized ministry of Jesus in the world today. As parents we can either live in fear , or stand on the promises of Gods word, guarding our minds from the bondage.
Paul set a good example for Timothy, and it helped him grow spiritually and physically. Paul mentored him and then sent him out, he didn’t abandon him. He followed up with Timothy’s development as a parent would. He challenged Timothy to submit, surrender, and serve the Lord without fear, in boldness and in reckless abandonment.
Back to the pool story: the next day, guess who overcame her fear and went swimming with Mom and Dad? We helped Hannah overcome her fear, just like the Lord does with us!
Thrive 2009 Pastor Dave
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