What the Bible says about Spiritual Timidity
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Numbers 13:26-33 Notice the spies' timidity even at the beginning of their report, and they become increasingly fearful. If, because of God's promises in Exodus 23, they did not expect confrontation, why do they show so much trepidation? Even Joshua and Caleb expected confrontation. They most certainly did not understand that God's promises in Exodus 23 would be fulfilled without them having to lift so much as a finger to gain the land. They knew they would have to make war against the people of the land. The underlying problem was that they did not trust that the warfare would be a cooperative effort. In effect, they believed that God could not do it. They did not trust that God would be with them, cooperating with them and fighting on their side against the common enemy, the people of the land. Joshua and Caleb knew there would be combat, but the difference was that they were confident that God would fight for Israel and against the Canaanites. John W. Ritenbaugh The Christian Fight (Part One) Related Topics: Canaanites | Evil Spies | Fearfulness | God's Promises | Spiritual Timidity | Timidity | Trusting God

Deuteronomy 20:8 He mentions "the faint heart," "those who are afraid and terrified," and "those given to panic." Every one of them is an invisible, internal force or power that compels a certain kind of conduct in battle. Each is a "spirit" motivated from within. Each one of those is debilitating to the soldier himself and can be communicated to others, seriously damaging the morale or the spirit of fellow soldiers. John W. Ritenbaugh The Holy Spirit and the Trinity (Part Three) Related Topics: Anxiety | Contagion of Fear | Fear | Spiritual Timidity | Timidity

Matthew 25:16-18 Since the servants did not know how long their master would be gone, they began trading without delay. The one with five talents increased his by 100%, as did the servant with two talents. In each case, their original assets were doubled. If the servant with one talent had just worked by trading with it, his reward would have been the same. The motivation for service and producing good fruit should be love for the Master, a virtue the servant with one talent lacked. Sadly, he failed to trade with his talent and multiply it. Fearing his master's severity, he wrapped his lord's asset in a handkerchief and hid it in a hole in the earth. Fear is a sad thing when a person dreads losing something valuable so much that he hoards it instead of putting it to good use. So it is with a spiritual gift also. While his fellow-servants were actively trading their talents, the third servant was idle. He was neither actively obedient nor disobedient, but passively disobedient. He did not intend to hurt his master's property; he simply failed to improve it. Similar to the foolish virgins suffering because they neglected to prepare, the third servant in this parable suffers because he did nothing with his talent. We must not hide our light under a basket (Matthew 5:14-16). Spiritual talents must be used in service to Christ for the glory of God - for the joy and honor of Him who is the Giver of every good gift (I Corinthians 10:31; James 1:17). Martin G. Collins Parable of the Talents (Part Two) Related Topics: Disobedience, Passive | Fear | Fearfulness | Motivation for Service | Parable of the Talents | Passive Disobedience | Spiritual Gifts | Spiritual Gifts, Neglect of | Spiritual Neglect | Spiritual Productivity | Spiritual Timidity | Stewardship | Stewardship of Talents

Hebrews 5:13-14 The Hebrews had to be reminded in the strongest of terms that the just shall live by faith, and that God was not pleased with those who turned and ran in the day of battle. We do not want to allow ourselves to get in that fix. Nor do we want to become discouraged, thinking we will never measure up to what God requires of us and think, "This task is too hard." Jesus, indeed, warned that the way is narrow and difficult, but it is not impossible because God has promised never to give us something that is too hard for us. God plays the game, as it were, according to the abilities of each individual. Though there is a standard against which everyone is judged, everyone is judged fairly—according to their natural ability and according to the gifts that God has given to them. Also, "to whom much is given, from him much will be required" (Luke 12:48). So no one can look at his neighbor and compare himself with him, because no one knows exactly where the other person stands. There has to be some tolerance of and patience with one another. We must have an attitude of forgiveness, even of encouragement. We have to do whatever we can that might help the other person make it into the Kingdom of God. That is part of our responsibility. Besides the fact that we know those things, there is also the "great cloud of witnesses" that is mentioned in Hebrews 12:1. That is, those who have gone before and are witnesses to us that God is faithful. How are they witnesses? They finished the race, and are awaiting the resurrection! God has given us witness of their lives, and how and why they made it. This witness illustrates His involvement in their lives. He has recorded those things so that we can understand that God will deal with us in a merciful way. He has not called us to lose us but to save us. He is able to do what He sets His hand to do. We are in good hands—the best! We are in the most secure position that we could possibly be. That "great cloud of witnesses" witnesses to us that, if they did it, we can do it too. So there is no need to get discouraged, even though the way for each of us is just as hard, just as difficult, as it has to be. He tells us in His Word that He will do far more—over and above what we can even begin to think that He is capable of doing—to ensure that we will be saved. John W. Ritenbaugh Conviction and Moses Related Topics: Attitude of Forgiveness | Discouragement | Encouragement | Forgiveness | Great Cloud of Witnesses | Just Shall live by Faith | Spiritual Timidity | To Whom Much is Given, Much is Required

Revelation 21:7-8 God declares that He will cast the cowardly into the Lake of Fire. This should give us pause because few of us are the kind of people who "run to the sound of the guns." For most of us, we have sometimes been brave, but perhaps many other times we have been timid and fearful. So what can we do to avoid being a coward when it matters most? We will start with a definition. Webster's American Dictionary defines a coward as "a person who shows shameful lack of courage or fortitude." Fortitude is "mental and emotional strength in facing adversity, danger, or temptation courageously." The root of the word "coward" derives from the Latin word coe, which means "tail." Obviously, it comes from the common sight of an animal "turning tail" and fleeing "with its tail between its legs," metaphorical expressions still in use today. An Old English word for "cowardly" is earg, which also means "slothful." This brings to mind Matthew 25:24-30, where the slothful servant (KJV; the NKJV calls him "lazy") is sentenced to "outer darkness" for failing to carry out the job he was given to do. The servant justified his lack of action, saying, "I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground" (Matthew 25:25). Examples of cowardice are found throughout the Bible. The first is that of Adam and Eve, who hid themselves from God, and then, after he was caught, Adam attempted to shift the blame for his actions onto his wife. As the old joke goes, "Adam blamed Eve; Eve blamed the serpent; and the serpent, well, he didn't have a leg to stand on." Later, both Abraham and Isaac called their wives their sisters to save their skins. In Moses' day, the ten spies sent into Canaan were afraid to challenge the inhabitants of Canaan, and their cowardly actions dispirited the whole nation. The New Testament contains examples of cowardice, too: the parents of the blind man whose sight was restored feared the Jews, the rich young ruler feared the loss of his wealth, the disciples feared the storm on the sea, and, of course, Peter denied Jesus rather than die with him as he had pledged. In Galatia, Peter and others played hypocrites because of fearing the church's Jewish leadership (Galatians 2:11-14). The common thread in these occurrences is self-preservation; we all want to continue as we are without sacrificing anything. But God owns us heart and soul, and because of that fact, we need to consider the end toward which God is leading us. Jesus says in Matthew 16:25, "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." Jesus set us the perfect example of self-sacrifice and boldness, as His crucifixion was only the culmination of a lifelong example of dedication and sacrifice. So we, too, must deny ourselves and follow Him regardless of the cost to us (Matthew 10:39). An old adage says, "Sow an act and reap a habit; sow a habit and reap a character; sow a character and reap a destiny." Human experience shows it to be generally true. If a person does something repeatedly, even if at first it is against his will, it will become a habitual practice, especially if it turns out to be a pleasurable experience. If the person continues in his habit until it becomes a necessity to him, it will engrave itself on his character, and at that point, his destiny is pretty much set. So it is with cowardice, running away in fear of hard choices and sacrifice. We cannot allow fear and flight to become our necessary, habitual reactions to difficult situations lest they become set in our characters. As we have seen, cowardice is related to self-preservation, laziness, faithlessness, and the wrong kind of fear. In I Corinthians 16:13, Paul exhorts us, "Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong." Deuteronomy 11:8 informs us that being strong comes from obeying God's commandments. Moses exhorts the Israelites in Deuteronomy 31:6, "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you." Paul encourages us in Ephesians 6:10-17 to take the steps now to dress ourselves with the proper battle gear so that, when we must face the enemy, we will be ready to stand rather than run. John Reiss Fear Not (Part Two) Related Topics: Blaming Others | Character | Courage | Cowardice | Cowardliness | Evil Spies | Faithfulness | Fear of Sacrifice | Lake of Fire | Parable of the Talents | Self Preservation | Self Sacrifice | Slothfulness | Spiritual Timidity

 

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