Why Do We Feel Intimidated?

So far in my blog have shared mainly about fitness, a bit about work. But now I want to talk about something that is more important to me than any of those things...my faith. Back in April of 2004 I gave my life to Jesus and since then he has done some amazing things in my life.

I guess I could talk about what Jesus has done for me all day long, but right now I wanted to talk about a topic that was touch on in church recently. I have decided to discuss it here as it not only gives you...the reader...a powerful message, but it also allows me to revisit the key points that were raised during the services.

Intimidation...we all feel this at different points in our lives for different reasons, usually because we feel inadequate in comparison to someone else. But as Christians, why do we feel intimidated? There is a simple answer for this - we fear man more than we fear God! We fear how people will react to us when we start to speak to them about the word of God. We worry how they will respond when we tell them about Jesus Christ and what He did for each and everyone of us.

But the simple fact is as believers we should never feel intimidated as we are the children of God. As it states in John 1:12

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

This is an awesome message for us as believers of Christ. But its even better since we have no reason to feel intimidated in the face of people.

Ultimately though, the fear of God should always be greater than our fear of man. This isnt to say wer should be scared of God. Quite the opposite in fact...the fear of God is that awesome reverence of the Lord that comes from being sensitive to His glorious, holy and majestic Person. This results in respect and obedience.

But intimidation of man will stop us being effective in terms of the purpose God has ordained on our lives. This is highlighted in 2 Timothy 1:7 ...

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

Take a second to really let that passage sink in...God did not provide us with a weak spirit, one that was meant to be kept quiet. God gave us a powerful spirit, one full of love and self-discipline! God doesnt want us to worry about what man thinks of us...this is totally insignificant.

God wants to break the curse of intimidation in our lives  so that we can take the next step in our walk. If we are bound by intimidation, we cannot server God 100%, we cannot truly fulfill our purpose.

One story from the Bible that is relevant to this topic is from the book of Isaiah, chapter 36, which talks of the when Sennacherib led an army into Judah, one detachment of which threatened Jerusalem. Isaiah on that occasion encouraged Hezekiah to resist the Assyrians. But the way in which Sennacherib tried to intimidate Hezekiah can be related to us today.

The follow is a list of ways in which the enemy will attempt to intimidate us...

The enemy will bring unanswerable facts
 This was something that Sennacherib king of Assyria did to Hezekiah. He highlighted facts that made Hezekiah's army look weak. But this doesnt mean we should stand down

The enemy will talk about the failure of others
This is an effective way for the enemy to introduce more doubt into our minds. When we see the failure of others, we may start to doubt our own ability and success

The enemy will bring out sarcasm and highlight your mistakes
What better way to make someone regret their ability than to highlight the mistakes you have made in the past.

The enemy will make threats against you
This is another way that can quickly make people feel intimidated, as the threats are thrown at them, they may feel that they cant endure.

The enemy will try to coax you
When we are not going along with someone who is trying to intimidate us, they can turn to persuasion. This is one thing the field commander attempted, stating he would give Hezekiah two thousand horses.

The enemy will misrepresent God's word
As a last resort, the Field Commander stated in verse 10

"Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this land without the LORD ? The LORD himself told me to march against this country and destroy it."

 But in the end we must always remember those key words in 2 Timothy 1:7, the fact that God has given us a spirit of power, love and self-discipline. With these weapons, the enemy will have no power in terms of intimidating us.


It's what God thinks which ulimately matters!