Second Timothy 1:7 reassures us that “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Even so, we battle the fear of man and the fiery darts of the wicked one whenever we are on the front lines battling for souls.

I vividly recall driving with my friends Dave and Steph to lunch one beautiful summer day. We were encouraging one another to witness when we spotted 3 teenagers who were walking a couple blocks in front of us. We were in my car on a back street so I slowed to a stop and from about 20 feet I asked one of the teens “Excuse me, may I give you a tract?” He immediately appeared convicted, but didn’t say a word as he accepted the tract. However, one of his buddies was enraged. He started yelling and cursing at us and saying we had no right to approach them. This guy was loud and angry; the atmosphere was charged; and we were all shaking. We tried to share, but he wasn’t listening. After a few words, we parted.

Amazingly, two weeks later, Steph ran into the quiet, convicted teen who had accepted the tract. He apologized for his friend’s behavior and said that the incident led to a long conversation about the things of God. Praise the Lord! Remember, despite the devil’s schemes to intimidate, God’s Word will not return void!