Each week, let’s reflect upon Sunday’s teaching through further exploration…
“The Wall of Fear” (Walls Sermon Series)
“But, Mrs. Farwell, I just can’t do it. I can’t get up there and see all those eyes and faces staring back at me!” That was a common student refrain during my tenure as a college Public Speaking instructor. When it comes to public speaking, fear is a given for most people. Some surveys show people are more afraid to speak in public than they are to die (which is saying something if you don’t know your eternal destination!).
Fear can be debilitating, but my students often heard me say, “I’m much more concerned for you if you’re not scared than if you are scared.” That’s because when responded to in an appropriate manner, fear can motivate putting in extra preparation and practice time as well as bring energy to the delivery of the speech. The speaker’s goal is not to eliminate fear but instead to recognize its signs and have a plan in place to work through it effectively.
It’s been two years since I’ve taught Public Speaking, but those lessons came flooding back when Jonathan preached about fear on Sunday. He, too, stressed that we can’t concentrate on eradicating the fear. He gave Moses as the example, preaching from Exodus 2-4. God showed Moses how He was bigger than His servant’s fear and could be trusted even when the obstacles ahead seemed insurmountable.
There’s another biblical figure that comes to mind on this topic. The Lord called him out, too, and his answer seemed to echo Moses’s: “Here I am, Lord.” Unlike Moses, though, who appear in multiple chapters and books of the Bible, this man’s story is covered in less than 10 verses. Ananias was his name, and the Lord told him to go to Saul. Saul… the notorious persecutor of the early church, the one who approved the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7), and the man who entered homes of believers to drag them off to prison (Acts 8). God wanted Ananias to go to him?! Acts 9:13-14 records Ananias’s response to this call from the Lord:
“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
The Lord’s reply – though different from Moses’s account – still had the same implication of: “Go. I am sending you, and I will display my power through you.” Ananias was God’s instrument to restore Saul’s sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And we all know the incredible, faithful work Paul went on to do for the Lord.
I taught my Public Speaking students to use fear in a healthy way for success with speeches. God wants us to reframe and utilize our fears as well. But the awesome reality with God is that we don’t rely on our own power and energy to do so. We have the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38-39).
In John 14:27, Jesus told His disciples:
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Why didn’t they have to be afraid? Why don’t we have to be afraid? Back up to verse 26:
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
If everything relied on us, then of course we should be afraid! But we have living inside us (for those who have submitted their lives to Jesus as Savior and Lord) the very Spirit of Almighty God! Paul tells Timothy this Spirit is a gift that doesn’t make us fearful but rather gives us power, love, and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7). He also gives Timothy instruction for that gift of the Spirit, instruction we would be wise to heed as well – a reminder to fan it into flame (vs 6). The Greek word for that is ἀναζωπυρέω, meaning rekindle or revive. Paul’s wording here points to the reality that even with the Spirit inside us, we are responsible to respond. I pray our response is to fan the Spirit to flame!
“A church in the land without the Spirit is rather a curse than a blessing. If you have not the Spirit of God, Christian worker, remember that you stand in somebody else’s way; you are a fruitless tree standing where a fruitful tree might grow.” – Charles Spurgeon