I have a friend who hit a point where he didn't know what was going to happen with his job, ministry or anything that was about to take place in his life. Around that time, he wrote to me and said, “My wife and I were in a meeting in New York City, and I was hoping that the meeting would go differently. Afterward, my wife and I were walking to Whole Foods right in midtown Manhattan.”
He said, “There was fear all over us, and as we were walking, there was a lady standing there begging for money. I was thinking about how scary our future was because of what would happen to me in the meeting literally just minutes before, and I guess my face said it all. This homeless woman with a cardboard sign looked at me and yelled, ‘Fix your face. God is good.’ I’d just been rebuked by a homeless woman, and I did realize that I can fix my face because God is good. Because God is good, not only should our faces be fixed, but our faith should be full. God can help us through every storm and wave that affects our lives.”
Fear is not from God. If fear is not of God, why would God choose to allow it into our lives? How is he using this method of communication to bring warning to our life?
Fear is a revelation. It prompts us to ask ourselves, “Am I focusing on the right thing?”
Paul wrote, “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:6-7, ESV). Think of that. When fear comes, it removes those three elements that are so important for every single day. We need power, love, and a sound mind to walk through every crisis that hits our lives, whether it’s a personal tragedy or a worldwide pandemic. When fear comes, it removes those three things and replaces them with weakness, selfishness and crazy narratives.
God says, “Fix your focus on me. I want to fix what's happening in you. I want to fix your faith.” If I believe that God is great and good, it not only begins to increase my faith, it begins to dissolve my fear.
After pastoring an inner-city congregation in Detroit for thirty years, Pastor Tim served at Brooklyn Tabernacle in NYC for five years and pastored in Lafayette, Louisiana, for five years. He became Senior Pastor of Times Square Church in May of 2020.