When Fear Keeps Us Quiet

Hey, my friends. Welcome back to Journal Gently. Today, I want to share with you a verse that has spoken so much to me here recently, but then I realized that I’ve actually been using it out of context.

You’ve probably heard the verse before. It’s from 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 7: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”

Now, this is a verse that we generally use when we are afraid and we know that God has not given us that spirit of fear. Right? He’s not given us a spirit of fear. He has given us a spirit of power and love and, some translations say self-control instead of self-discipline.

But when I was reading through this chapter, I realized I was taking it out of context. If you just back it up a few verses, you’ll see that Paul is writing this letter to his son in the faith, Timothy. Paul has mentored Timothy. He has discipled him. He has trained him up, and so he is writing this personal letter to Timothy.

And so if you back it up just a few verses, this is what it says. I want you to listen to this in context and see if you, with the Holy Spirit’s help, can figure out what this verse is actually talking about. Okay?

Paul writes, “Timothy, I thank God for you—the God I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did. Night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.I long to see you again, for I remember your tears as we parted. And I will be filled with joy when we are together again.

I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you. This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”

Did you catch it? This is what this verse is actually about. It’s about using the gift God has already placed with you instead of letting fear convince you to hold back.

You see, fear doesn’t just make us anxious. It makes us quiet. It keeps us from stepping into what God has prepared next. We let the noise, the disappointment, the constant trying snuff out what once burned bright.

And yet God is still whispering, “Fan it into flame.”

Maybe that is why you have been so restless lately. You don’t need to start over. You don’t need to walk away. But you need to let God breathe fresh wind into what is already in you.

Journal Prompt

What gift has He given you that has gone quiet? That is your journal prompt for this week.

What gift has God given you that has gone quiet? That’s gone dormant? And why? Are you afraid? Are you not sure how to use it? Have you let other things take precedence?

What is that gift that has gone quiet? And what would it look like to use it again with power, with love, with self-control?

And bonus question: How can you fan it into flame? How can you reignite that passion that God has given you? That gift that He has placed within you?

Don’t forget, I am co-hosting a virtual conference next week (November 20, 2025) called Make the Move. It is designed especially for business owners or ministry leaders who are feeling stuck, restless, or unfulfilled in their current work. Or who maybe feel like they’ve gotten away from using the gift given them—that would describe me. You can visit prayforyourbusiness.com to learn more and to sign up.

RELATED EPISODES:

• Episode 117: Running Away From God: A Devotional Bible Study on Jonah 1
• Episode 122: Feeling Anxious? Try This 5-Minute Journaling Session
• Episode 184: Could This Be Why You’re Not Hearing from God?

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