DaySpring Daily Word of Inspiration: Proverbs 29:25 – Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.
“There’s no real intricate way to put this.” “There’s no drawn out process that helps us understand the scripture any better than in its direct terms.” This is what we think when we consider the bible and our times of devotion. We assume that what we read on the surface is all that’s being said and we take that and run with it. The depths of the bible are so incredible that scholars, theologians and every other professor of biblical doctrine is still trying to pull out the most detailed information from scriptures still until this day. So what does that say about our reading of the bible? How much more intently should we look into God’s word to find out the real/underlining meaning of what he is trying to give to us?
Well let’s take one step at a time and examine the scripture of today. So we understand that fear is a crippling emotion that keeps us moving forward. So far, so good. We even understand (intellectually) that God is the one who can keep us safe. Ok, so we’re all geniuses now right! Now let’s see if we can get a little deeper.
The words written are specific. We have to make sure we keep this in mind whenever we read God’s word. Fear is crippling, however can be overcome; but what about the fear of man? Why this wording? God could have easily just left it at fear right? What’s all the extras about God? Well one of the things that God has a great deal of experience with is human beings and their sin nature. The ability to look into the hearts of people and see them for who they truly are gives him the advantage to make a directive of why the fear of man is so important. Fear will hinder us all at some time or another in our lives, but we grow and mature and fear doesn’t have the same impact that it used to. However fear finds a new catalyst; people!
When we desire, shape, mold, or curtail our actions to fit into the general scheme of things as man believes it should be, this is when we begin to get trapped in snares. The fear of stepping out of the norm, going against the grain, or of mentioning moral standards can put people in a predicament not to address real issues that God is most concerned about. Hence we fall into these ruts of going with the flow versus speaking out on what we know is wrong! We don’t say anything for fear of losing a friendship. We don’t say anything for fear of being isolated. We don’t say anything because we don’t want men to look at us as a threat – that eventually needs to be eliminated. Essentially, we are in fear of how man can make us feel or of what they can do to us. This is the snare that is proven day after day to stop what should really be happening in our lives – pointing souls to Christ so that he may save them! PERIOD!
What we have to do is get to the place where we’re in tune with what really matters. The issue is trusting in man versus trusting in God! We fear men so we trust in what they think we should do in this life. We follow their lead because we worry about the physical and tangible effects they can have on our lives here on Earth. In actuality, we should be considering what God can do moreover than man! Our fear of God should produce a trust that has no consideration for the things that man speaks. We should follow his example in Jesus as being our lead. Being directed to do exactly what God wants done in our lives. Besides the fact we wouldn’t be worrying about how our lives are continually empty, we would be free of worry about what’s going to happen to our souls! Now there is assure, peace of mind and a hope because we are safe!
You don’t become safe in anything without maturing! We have to mature in God’s word and fellowship with his body of believers so that we’re placing our trust in the right things and not allowing fear to get a foothold on any area of our lives that would distract us from doing God’s work.
Today we pray that you look deeper into this word and the bible and examine where your fears are. If you’re worrying more about what men have to say about your life that God, you could be putting your trust in the wrong entity. Only one entity wants to keep you trapped – let’s just say, it isn’t God. Trust in the Lord; his safety destroys the snares we get caught in and eliminates the fear. Become bold for Christ and watch the fear of man lose all of its power. Be blessed and we pray this time has help fix your eyes on Christ and how to receive his word a bit deeper. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!