There’s plenty to fear in our current world: wars, rumors of war, pandemics, rising crime rates and invasion at our souther border. Yet the Bible tells us to fear not. Simply put, when we fear God, not man, our Heavenly Father blesses us with peace and wisdom.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.–Proverbs 9:10 (English Standard Version)
If the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, what does the fear of man yield?
The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe. –Proverbs 29:25 (ESV)
The American Heritage dictionary defines a snare as: 1.A trapping device, often consisting of a noose, used for capturing birds and small mammals. 2. Something that lures or entangles the unwary.
When a snare catches an animal , the noose tightens as it struggles to get away. This provides a perfect metaphor for fearing man.
How does the fear of man snare people? Worrying what people think or say about us can cause us to stay silent when we should witness or defend our faith in Jesus. You may even decline to stand against evil due to worries of loss of livelihood, reputation, or even your life.
The reality is we are compliant to what we fear. Yes, we obeyed our parents as children our of respect, but mostly because we feared the consequences of the belt or grounding.
Remember also as a child going along with your group of friends because of peer pressure? We did so out of fear of ostracism.
I’d like to now revisit a situation in recent history in which all the fears mentioned above were encapsulated into a single, surreal event: the Covid pandemic . As you will see, this was a snare on many levels.
Many of us lost loved ones due to Covid, which was terrible and tragic. The elderly and those with chronic chronic conditions were most at risk. Yet ,instead of focusing on those who were at risk, government aided by the media chose to frighten every citizen out of their minds.
Numbers were inflated by hospitals . People who died in car accidents or had heart attacks, etc were said to have died of Covid if they even had a trace of the virus at the time of their death. This practice only aided in the panic.
Infected elderly people were returned to nursing homes under orders by health officials, leading to more deaths and inflating the death toll. This was largely ignored by the press, who instead focused on stories of food and toilet paper shortages, overwhelmed emergency rooms or how Covid would affect the incumbent president’s reelection. If this wasn’t bad enough, one news outlet had a Covid death ticker running during each broadcast.
People did anything they could to get out of that snare, as indicated by their blind allegiance to every arbitrary government edict. Many comforted themselves they were doing good and protecting elderly loved ones as they surrendered to tyranny.
People wore masks everywhere, even when walking with their spouse in the park, or driving alone. They stayed six feet apart even though the rule was unscientific.
Families hunkered down, isolating themselves from friends and loved ones. Many parents didn’t pushback against schools shutting down; forcing their kids to learn via Zoom. Many Christians stopped going to church due to fears of catching the virus.
On the other hand, many God-fearing Christians chose freedom over authoritarianism. They resolved not to live in fear, because they believe God determines their calling into heaven. If Covid was to be that opening of the door to eternity, then so be it.
These men and women continued social gatherings during the lockdowns. Despite following mask mandates early on , they later declined when reports came out questioning the effectiveness of the mandates (which recent reports have validated). These were men and women who walked into supermarkets unmasked and allowed their kids to have sleepovers with friends. Their fear of God trumped their fear of man.
So we can confidently say,“The Lord is my helper;I will not fear;
what can man do to me?”–Hebrews 13:6
Why did I spend a good part of this column revisiting Covid? We are in an election year in which certain forces do not want the return of a certain president. We’ll refer to him as DJT.
Covid coincidentally came just before 2020 presidential campaign, along with rioting in major cities. If this happened as a prelude to campaign season, what do you think these forces have planned in 2024? After all, this DJT is winning primaries and surging in polls? It’s not difficult to imagine.
Let me encourage you to fear not as wars, rumors of war, threats of future pandemics and terrorist attacks loom. Pray often, study your Bible,and trust in the peace and protection of the LORD through your faith in Jesus.
For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.–2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV)
If conviction reveals your fear of man as greater than your fear of God, take heart. You do not have to remain enslaved.
Jesus sets you free when you ask Him to be Lord and Savior of your life. Surrendering your life to God, though Jesus and the by the power of the Holy Spirit, reveals truth and takes away fear.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.–Romans 12:2 (ESV)
Now is the time to do this. I hope I am wrong, but I believe 2024 will be unlike any year in our lifetime. Those who keep their eyes on Jesus will be steadied by the power of the Holy Spirit no matter what happens. Therefore, we can encourage others to fear God, not man