ANTIDOTE TO TIMIDITY
Making news in the Euro cup soccer tournament is Spain’s 16-year-old Lamine Yamal, who was not intimidated by the big stage and vowed fans all over the world with his skill and poise. Being intimidated by circumstances is an experience common to all. Overcoming fear becomes the key to success. Paul while advising his disciple Timothy, who was young and fearful, gives us an insight into his prescription for timidity .
‘For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and self-discipline.’ (2Timothy 1:7)
Power: To counter fearfulness, Paul points out to Timothy the power of God that is available to him. The usage of ‘spirit’ indicates that all three counters to timidity originate in the spirit of man, the deepest part of a person regenerated by Christ, where God’s Spirit dwells. The indwelling Spirit empowers a person to overcome the weakness of the flesh, among them timidity. Just like we clean the windows and remove the dirt to let the sunlight unfiltered into the house, all we need to do is allow this power of God to illuminate our lives. We can do this by spending time with God in prayer and meditation, studying the word of God and submitting to God thereby allowing the power to take hold of our lives.
Love: When we are intimidated by people, we have two choices- either wallow in the pit of anger and fear against our oppressors or rise to surface by choosing to forgive them and love them. “Perfect love drives out fear”, says John (1 John 4:18). When Jesus went to the cross, instead of railing out against those who crucified them, he was a picture of serenity and peace as he prayed and asked God to forgive them for ‘they know not what they do’. He suffered on the cross, but there was not even a hint of timidity or fear as he bore our sins to give life to one and all including those who crucified him.
Self-discipline: While adverse circumstances are external, fear and timidity are responses cultivated within our soul to those circumstances. We repeatedly think with our minds about it, allow emotions to flare up and force our wills to take the easy path out. When our entire souls- mind, emotions and will, are thereby subjugated, we become slaves to fear and timidity becomes part of our personality. It is here that self-discipline is needed in all three areas of our soul, whereby with our wills we use God’s power to control our mind and emotions. Over time, we naturally begin to be fearless in our demeanor, as our wills conform to the leading of the Spirit.
It is then that neither age nor circumstances can overwhelm us. The contrast between one who knows God and one who doesn’t couldn’t be more stark. ‘The wicked flee when no one pursues, whereas the righteous are as bold as a lion’. (Proverbs 28:1)
