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Fear

             Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe. (Proverbs 29:25)

          I could be wrong, but I suspect most people will claim they aren’t afraid of man. I also believe their actions would prove that statement to be incorrect. I have read statistics that claim that as much as 98% of people fear public speaking. Some fear it to the point that it is a psychological issue for them. As much as 85% of Americans are afraid to be wrong. Both of those fears are based in fear of people.

Similarly, even among those who claim to fear God, I have grave doubts that their actions would prove it. We are too quick to say, “God will forgive.” He will, but we take it as our due and sometimes seem to consider that the problem is not with ourselves, but with God. If he weren’t so hypersensitive, anti-diversity, or closed-minded, He wouldn’t need to forgive us. If He’s so “all-knowing”, why can’t he see that mine/ours is a special case? We might not say such a thing in the same way, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.

It could be that the reality is that we must fear. It’s wise to fear when there is something to fear. And for most of us, the two most ubiquitous and significant things to fear are man and God. I used to be afraid of spiders, but I know from experience that I encounter many more people each day than I do spiders and the people are far more likely to inflict harm. We’ve learned our lesson. People are dangerous. We may not use that word, but we act in a way to protect ourselves. We consider it wise, and  quite likely, we have some difficulty turning off the danger warning  even when we want to. This is an example of fear or man being a snare.

Another reason fearing people is a snare is because there are so many of them and they don’t all have the same opinions. The thing we choose to do to mitigate our fear of one person is the thing that triggers another. The thing that triggers a person now may not matter to the same person later. Fear of people ends up with us trying to cross a minefield.

On the other hand, fearing God involves one other being, and He is consistent in His demands and not as easily triggered as we like to think He is. Fear of God can be our means of overcoming our fear of man. It can produce a peace that is not possible if we fear man instead.

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