No Chickens Allowed

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7

I used to think this verse was all about me. Well, “me” in the sense that it’s about people and how we shouldn’t be scared because we’re powerful people. Turns out, that’s not really what this verse is about. It’s not saying that I’m a powerful person, or that I can do things on my own. It’s not saying that God created me to be a person who could handle things on my own with my awesome abilities of power and love. It’s pretty clear that the spirit is from God and that He is the one that with the power and love and self-control, not me. Which is pretty good news since God isn’t changed by situations, His abilities don’t falter or fail when faced with troubling situations like mine do. It’s easy for me to be brave when nothing is happening, but much harder when life gets rough. It’s comforting to know that the Spirit within me isn’t so wishwashy, but steady and constant. When I come up against a situation and start getting scared, I know that I’m acting in my own abilities and not in accordance with the spirit that God gave me and that it’s time to change what I’m doing and who I’m relying on.