CWW Week 10 - Day 3 - Fear

Fear

Scripture.

2 Timothy 1:7

“ For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”

Devotional

I remember the first few weeks after I passed my Command training. I was now a fully fledged QANTAS captain and the buck now stops with me.

I remember thinking to myself as I walked up to the first jet that had my name on it; ‘Oh boy, you wanted this now how are you going to manage life from here on in?’ I had spent my whole life preparing for this moment and while I was filled with excitement, I also felt the full weight of responsibility now resting on the four gold bars on my shoulders.

I always felt undeserving of my new found position. Having no real formal education and a criminal record by the time I was only seventeen years old, I felt like an interloper. All my colleagues had matriculated at least and I never completed past first year of high school.

I had no idea that my dream to fly was only a stepping stone to sharing the Good News of the Gospel to people I had never met.

Back then God was a fantasy indulged by weak minded people who needed a crutch to lean on. That wasn’t me.

My passion for flight took me through a very troubled life as a young adolescent. It was my focal point in the sky as I waded through the swamp of my circumstances. I thought it was the dream that one day I would fly that gave me what I needed to make it.

I now realise it was God all along. His Son Jesus was walking with me even as I cruelly denied Him; He was there with me the whole time. I can see it now but not then. Now that the battery that supplied the energy for my self sufficiency has gone flat from over consumption and under charging, I can see now how the Back Up Generator, Jesus, was always my primary source of power even when I was an agnostic or an atheist.

Did Jesus know what I was capable of? Did He know that one day my dream to fly would have me writing devotionals in the autumn of my years? I am not talking pre-destination here because I have issues with that doctrinal belief. I am talking about a God given destiny that many are unaware of because we are all too self focussed.

We have held ourselves back or gone too far away from the power source and the same result occurs. We fall flat; our destiny unachieved and out of reach. Kind of like driving an electric car to a destination that is only just out of reach. Haha, sometimes we need the walk that comes when the battery runs flat in our new Tesla.

It’s all about recognising the perfect power source and remaining connected with it in faith. God’s timing is always perfect regardless of it not meeting our schedule. His calendar never fails.

If we trust in Him and have confidence in His promises then we won’t be timid but assertive in love, a power that is not our own and self discipline that comes from remaining plugged into the Holy Spirit.

I seem to trip over the cord every day and disconnect. I hate the feeling of my disconnection and I find myself scrambling to plug the lead back in before I get beyond it’s reach. Don’t you hate it when the only extension lead you have is only inches short of the power point?

The other verse that keeps popping into my head is Philippians 4:13. “For I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Am I still afraid from time to time? Yes, aren’t we all? But in Christ I feel the fear but do it anyway. And what if I fall? Well that’s another gift of character development isn’t it? Isn’t that what the journey of life is all about?

Don’t fall for the trap of waiting for God to speak to you with his flight plan for your life. Too many people will not give God anything to bless and they remain stuck. If you think a door may be open for you then step through it to see what’s on the other side. But do it in prayer. If it’s Gods’ will, you will soon know about it, and if not by remaining in faith He will open another one. The key is not to give up and remain connected.

There are no mistakes, only opportunities to learn. The prerequisite is to move forward in Hope Faith and Love and the greatest of these is Love. 1 Corinthians 13.

Questions.

1. You have a destiny because we all do. What is your destiny and what do you need to do to live into it?
2. In what ways of the past have you fallen short of your destiny?
3. What is the one thing you can do right now, to change course and achieve what God has ready for you?

Prayer

Dear Lord, Papa God.

I have messed up so many times and yet You have patiently waited for me to connect to You through Jesus. Papa always know that my greatest desire is to stay connected to your power source, not as a timid bystander but an active participant in the life you have given me. Strengthen me through your Holy Spirit to be a light beaming with the love and testimony of Jesus. I thank you that even as I have sinned only recently that in your sight I am still a righteous person when viewed through the eyes of your Son Jesus in whose glorious name we pray. Amen

Graham Hood.