Here are four practical remedies for your lack of assurance:
- Stir up your gift. 2 Tim 1:6: "Stir up the gift of God which is in you." Get involved in ministry and serve others with whatever spiritual gifts you have. Be more sacrificial and you'll have less time to be introspective, and that alone will bolster your assurance.
- Face those fears. Verse 7: "For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." Quit nurturing your fears and draw on God's power to face whatever makes you timid and uncertain.
- Embrace that suffering. Verse 8: "Share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God." I've never met anyone suffering for the sake of his or her testimony who struggled with a lack of assurance. Assurance is an element of the grace God gives to sustain those who suffer.
- Trust our savior. Verses 9-10: understand that"[God] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."Again, that is the key to assurance: look away from yourself, and fix your heart on Christ. Know Him, and the power of His resurrection as you are made conformable to His death. And if you truly know Him and rest your hope in His ability to save, your heart will echo this affirmation of assurance Paul made: "I am not ashamed, for I know whom Ihave believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day [my deposits]."
Johnson, Phil. "A Remedy for Timid Souls ." The Gracelife Pulpit. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Aug. 2011. .
