Faulty faith

Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety. (Proverbs 29:25)

Some of us find circumstances so harsh at times that we actually fear they will be out undoing, but not so much because of the circumstance itself.  The people involved give us a bit more anxiety than the circumstance. We find ourselves thinking more about THEIR opinion of how we will handle the moment rather than God's opinion of us as we go through it. The fear of people is a really big deal. Scripture advises: "Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28) The people who we fear cannot touch our soul because God has that carefully under his attentive care!

Throughout scripture we can find examples of people who feared people, but with God's help, they overcame that fear and trusted in his strength to get them through. Moses didn't want to confront Pharoah, but God gave him the ability and the strength to do it. Nehemiah wasn't the boldest of the prophets, but he knew his mission was to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. When faced with tremendous opposition from neighboring communities that taunted and mocked his efforts, he didn't give up. He could have listened to their talk and worried about the project at hand or even fretted over whether it was God's will for him to be doing it. He didn't give them a second thought but trusted in the God he served to see the work through.

I suppose some will say a 'healthy fear' of others is a good thing. Remember the time when Jesus did all those miraculous signs and wonders, yet the people still didn't believe he was their Messiah? Scripture says many did believe in him, yet they were afraid to admit their beliefs in front of the Pharisees because they thought they would expel them from synagogue worship. (John 12:42-43) Scripture says, "They loved human praise more than the praise of God." Ouch! That isn't how any of us want to be remembered, is it? Fear of human praise or rejection is real, but it puts too much emphasis on human opinion. We would be wise to focus solely on the praise we receive from God. Fear of others can lead to a whole lot of compromise and 'faulty faith'. Just sayin!