A New Day

By: Pastor Johnie Akers  

2 Timothy 1:7, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”  A number of years ago I was returning from preaching the concluding service in a weeklong revival meeting.  It was dark and I was traveling alone.  The road leading to the interstate was narrow.  I was several hours from home.  It had been raining, so the visibility was poor.  I was tired butfelt good in my spirit as to the successful meetings I had participated in that week.  The vehicle I owned at that time was an SUV.  As I drove along the dark, winding road, suddenly I caught a glimpse in my rear-view mirror of what appeared to be someone in my back seat.  Needless to say, I was rather alarmed.  Regaining my senses, I knew I was alone—or maybe I wasn’t?  I turned the interior light on in the vehicle and, as I initially thought, no one else was present.  Thinking of myself to be rather silly, and blaming the incident on my tired eyes playing tricks on me, I resumed my focus on the road.  Then, suddenly, there he was again—occupying my back seat was a lone figure.  Imagine how you would feel?  Hours from home; traveling alone; it’s night; and you have an uninvited guest in your vehicle.  But then logic began to prevail.  Frankly, I’ve never been a superstitious person.  I have always balked at the idea of ghosts, goblins and some of the tall tales about spirits and spooks which seem replete in our Appalachianculture.  Then, I suddenly realized the only time I saw my “friend” in the back seat was when an oncoming car passed.  My apparition was merely the lights of oncoming vehicles casting my shadow against the back window of the SUV which was covered in mud from the rain that day.  Needless to say, I sure felt like a mighty man of God at that point.  But this experience illustrates how such simple events can be used to produce fear.  Fear can spawn from the most innocuous circumstances and become the focus of our day—or even longer.  Fear is overcome, as Paul indicated in our Scripture lesson, with “power, love and a sound mind.”  That night, a sound mind dispelled my fear; and it can yours as well.  Bringing you the perfect peace His power and love can afford with each new day.