Young Timothy was intimidated by the situation he now found himself in. He was, at this point in his life, a part of the greatest thing God had done since the creation of the human race. He was sharing in the great work of helping people enter the Kingdom of God.

Yet now, something difficult and unexpected had taken place. Years ago he had been recruited by Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to assist him to pastor the churches Paul had raised up through his preaching the gospel in Asia and Europe. The Church was growing at a phenomenal rate. There was some opposition, but they seemed to get through it all.

But now Paul was in prison in Rome, being tried for his life. Timothy was left, as were others, to carry on the work the apostle began. Paul suggested that his time might be up—that he could soon be executed by the Roman government because of the false accusations brought against him.

Paul seemed to know that Timothy was faltering under the thought of what might lay ahead. In a letter to him, Paul described how "evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived" (2 Timothy 3:13). Paul strongly encouraged him to "preach the word…for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine" (2 Timothy 4:2-3). This seemed daunting to young Timothy, who now faced even more difficult times than when he and Paul had traveled and worked together.

Furthermore, Paul told him, "Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God" (2 Timothy 1:8). He evoked Timothy's memory regarding the "genuine faith" he had, which Paul knew was also in Timothy's mother and grandmother (verse 5). He encouraged him to "stir up the gift of God that is in you…" (verse 6).

Next he said something very important. "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (verse 7, emphasis added). He knew Timothy had God's spirit. Humanly however, Paul knew it was easy to succumb to fear, hesitation, doubt and indecision under various circumstances. The Holy Spirit is indeed a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind. That covers a lot of issues and Paul knew precisely what he was speaking about. All three of these qualities are the opposites of fear.

You and I desire to function in this life with full confidence, without doubt and fear, but we know that doesn't always happen. Just as with Timothy, we see that our world can be an intimidating place. We may not be the strong and self-disciplined person we would like to be, nor do we always have people we can rely on who are mature and experienced. The "sound mind" Paul refers to, is a disciplined mind that does not allow false emotions to control us when we experience difficult times.

God's spirit is one of power. It gives us strength to persevere during periods when there seems to be little hope. It is also the spirit of love. God gives us the ability to avoid the damaging emotions of anger and resentment in hard times. It's natural to become discouraged. Love also is an expression of trust in God that He will sustain us in any situation.

Paul's advice to Timothy was exactly what he needed to hear for the future that he was about to face. We need the same advice. Timothy was going to lose a trusted friend and mentor. How could he continue alone? If Timothy was to teach the truth of God in a hostile world, he needed to know everything Paul expressed to him in his letter. Every person who has made a decision to turn to God because they heard the gospel needs to know this too. It makes all the difference.