I was thinking today of Paul's letter to Timothy known as 2 Timothy. He wrote it knowing that his time on earth was short and that he would soon be martyred for his faith. Paul described himself as a "drink offering being poured out before the Lord." (2 Timothy 4:6) In this final letter that we have, Paul wanted to remind Timothy to be strong and to remind him that the spirit within him was one of power and not of fear.
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7
Paul knew something of fear. He speaks about it several times and speaks of times of trembling and challenge. (See for example 1 Corinthians 2:3) He speaks of times of being beyond exhausted and sick. He talked of scars on his body and being shipwrecked and in prison and beaten with rods. ( 2 Corinthians 6:4-10) Paul didn't do all that without fear. Faith is not the absence of fear, it is working despite fear. To have fear in those is normal. To not have fear is sick.
Paul saw others who had fear and it caused them to turn and walk away from what God called them to do including Demas, who Paul said deserted him (2 Timothy 4:10). In Paul's first missionary journey it was Mark who walked away from Barnabas and Paul. It caused such a split that when Barnabas wanted to take Mark again on the second journey they had to split up because Paul was against the idea (Acts 15:38). Yet, later Paul talks about Mark's usefulness in ministry to him. We know John Mark as the author of the second gospel of Mark. God used him despite a poor beginning.
I know something also of fear. I am not a person who by nature gets in front of the crowd. But, sometimes God calls us to take a step of faith and to trust Him in what we do not see. It does not mean we are careless or don't work hard. It doesn't mean you don't do your homework and sleep with the book under the pillow. (I wish that did work!) It means believing in a big God who provides for our needs and knows how to take care of his children. Every evidence is, that even though Mark and Timothy may have been timid at first, their faith overcame their nature shyness and timidness. It is because they stayed focus on the God who is greater than their problems that they were able to overcome.
