Verse of the day: Psalm 56:4 In God (I will praise His
word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What
can flesh do to me?
The Word of God is very clear that the fear of man is
a snare or a stumbling block (Pro 29:25), and will often cause us to make
decisions that are contrary to God’s will and plan for our lives. God reminds
us that we are not to fear man who can only kill the body, but instead we are
to fear God who can destroy both body and soul (Mt 10:28). Not only do we make
decisions based on our fear of man, but we often make the wrong decisions
because we put more faith in man than we do in God. The Word of God tells us
that when we trust in man and make him/her our security or source of wisdom, we
are cursed and our heart departs from the Lord (Jer 17:5). This Psalm was
attributed to David when he was fleeing from King Saul and fled to the
Philistines. In his fearful haste to escape King Saul, he ran and trusted that he
would be safe amongst the people whose warrior, Goliath, he had killed.
However, when he went to Achish, king of Gad, the Philistines had not forgotten
what he did (1 Sam 21:10-11), resulting in his capture. The fear of man, and
our trust of man, will lead us down paths that will ultimate make our lives
more difficult. When we are face to face with difficult times and have to
decide what solution to seek, our greatest source of wisdom and protection
should be, and is, the Lord. David ultimately realized that the only One who
could help him survive the predicament he was in was the God. David praised God’s
Word (what Scripture was available to him at that time) because it reminded him
of God’s promises to him and His (God’s) people. How much more should we praise
the Word of God knowing that we not only have the Scriptures that David had,
but we also have God’s completed revelation to us in our Bibles, and many
promises to hold on to in Christ, as born again believers? We have God’s Word
and an answer to every situation at our very fingertips. This is why it is of
utmost importance that we truly study the Word of God and not just skim it. We
must do more than memorize verses; we must pick it apart and dig deep into what
God is telling us about Himself, about us, about those that oppose us, and
about life when we are outside of Christ or in Christ (2 Tim 2:15). Along with
this we must be does of the Word, and not just hearers (Jm 1:22-25). The bottom
line is that when we find ourselves in a situation where others plot against
us, persecute us, and try to do all that is in their power to cause our
downfall, we can turn to God who will enable us, like the eagle to soar above
the storm clouds. For if we wait on Him, He will renew our strength so that we
not faint (Is 40:31). The Word of God tells us that if God be for us, who can
be against us (Rom 8:31-34). When we are reminded, by God, that He is with us,
and will never forsake us, He also reminds us that we need not fear man or what
man can do because He is our Helper (Heb 13:5-6). Even if Satan is on the
attack, God is the One who decides what will enter our lives, what trials we
will suffer, and to what extent we will endure whatever He allows (Job 1-2). It
should be encouraging to us that God has that much control over what happens in
our lives, even when we do not expect it or understand it. Like David, we must
praise Him, in Christ, and put our complete trust in God as our Helper and
Deliverer; and the source of our reminder is the Holy Spirit using the Word of
God (which we should value as the greatest treasure we own). In the end, if we
are making our decisions and living our lives in accordance with what God
expects and commands, why would we fear or even care what man thinks or how
they will react?
No comments:
Post a Comment