Avoiding Traps

“The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.” Proverbs 29:25

I can’t think of a more powerful emotion that can bring on secondary consequences than fear.  Fear has a way of taking what is a challenging situation and blowing it into overwhelming consequences.  I only need to look as far as my response in fear when my daughter was walking in complete darkness for 8 years.  During that time, I fearfully stepped into a trap that entangled me for 3 years.  My adversity was having a prodigal child, but my fear fueled a response (spending) that brought on additional pain and suffering.  I read a quote today from Lysa TerKeurst that really hit home.  She wrote, ‘Whatever captivates our heart fuels our actions.’ Trustworthy, p. 73.  Fear is a trap that we step in when we don’t trust God.  Our fear ‘brings’ a snare into our life if we are not careful, creating additional troubles.  Fear convinces us that man has the last say in our situation when really God does.  Fear lulls us into hopelessness instead of our steadfastness in God’s faithfulness.  Fear reminds us of what can and will go wrong up ahead, while God’s word reminds us of what He accomplished behind us.  What will captivate our heart?  Fear or trust?

God is very clear in communicating what spirit was placed inside our hearts and what spirit was never meant to reside there.  ‘For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.’ 2 Timothy 1:7.  The spirit of fear doesn’t originate from God.  Instead we have been entrusted with God’s Spirit, who searches the mind of God and communicates it to us.  The Spirit in us gives power to us…resurrection power…resolving power…peace-giving power.  If fear captivates our hearts, we will take action and move ahead of God.  If we allow our fear to be speak louder than our faith, we will never hear the next step in God’s plan.  Fear tells us that things are dead, while faith tenderly awakens hope and peace in our circumstances. 

Safety is found in the garment of trust in God…trust in the when…trust in the how…trust in the why.  Let us all present our shoulders to Jesus to have this garment wrapped securely around us.