Are you my spur?

If you fear other people, you are walking into a dangerous trap; but if you trust in the Eternal, you will be safe. (Proverbs 29:25 VOICE)

I think we all struggle with this one on occasion - fearing what people might think about us, what they may be saying, or even what they might someday do to us. It can keep us tied in knots and totally keep us out of deep, meaningful relationships because we don't want to take the step of trusting another with what we feel they may "misuse" or "find fault" with if we did. It takes a lot to open up to others - it takes even more to hold what we know about the other person sitting across from us as though it were the most precious treasure we might possess.

When someone trusts us with even a little piece of their real self, what we do with what we possess makes all the difference in how much more they will share in the future. The fear of others is often based in some misuse of what another "knows" about us - or how they have judged us by how we appear, respond, or maybe even out "intelligence level" on a certain subject. I could not even begin to talk Wall Street banking among those who possess that skill, but it wouldn't keep me from striking up a conversation with them. Who knows what I might learn in the process!  If I never put myself out there, I might never really find the benefit of being in relationship with the individuals God intends to be a blessing in my life.

On another side of this issue is the willingness to trust God with our lives - even the stuff we find hard to let go of or the "control" we hold onto with everything we've got. We don't want to hold back from trusting others, but we also don't want to put trust in them which is designed to be given to God. We don't want to hold back from trusting God with stuff we should trust him with, either. God doesn't want other people to control our actions - he wants to be the one to assist with that important work in our lives. He does want us to learn from what others see in us - helping us to see what we cannot see - good and bad. They will appreciate some things we didn't thing were all that "good" in us - they will help us to see the hard stuff we don't want to admit is hanging on in our lives that we simply need to let go of, as well.

God can be trusted. Others may let us down from time to time, but we still need others in our lives to help us to grow strong in our walk. What God warns against is placing more hope, trust, or "worth" in another over that which we place in him. We cannot be more secure than when he is given the right place in our lives. When we do, allowing him to bring individuals into our lives who will help us to see as he sees, grow in the things he desires us to grow into, and spur each other onto greatness in the things he values, we have found balance in our lives. Just sayin!