Fear's Snare

The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe. Proverbs 29:25

I read that this morning in my Bible reading. It's one of my favorite verses and has often been an encouragement to me.

The first part, "The fear of man," makes me think of two different things. First there is the fear literally, of man. We fear what others think, say, or might do to us. So we hold back doing things we know to do, like witness, or take a stand for what is right. We fear the opinions of others, the criticism of people, and the ridicule of scoffers.

This is what nearly sent me to hell. I was a lost church member and I was afraid to admit it. I was afraid people would be angry I had lied or think badly of me for living that lie for several years. What finally got my attention the night I got saved was the Holy Spirit's conviction of, "What do you fear more? What others think, or dying and going to hell?" In that perspective the answer was obvious. My fear of hell was greater.

The second thing I think of when I think of "the fear of man," is just that: all the fears that man has; whether it be people, or circumstances, or events. It's anything a person has a fear of.

People fear a lot of things; some of them we view as serious and others we view as humorous. For those who fear financial ruin, they may laugh at a child afraid of the dark--but both of those fears are very real (in the mind) of the person who is afraid.

George Mueller said the opposite of faith is fear. If anyone had a right to make that statement, it was he, for he actively lived a life of faith, when many in his position would have felt fear. He was responsible for so many lives; to feed and clothe them, and yet we read he thanked God at breakfast for food that was not in the kitchen, and before the morning was out, somehow, there was always enough food for everyone.

I have heard it said regarding the Baptists of colonial New England, that the reason they were so heavily persecuted is that the congregationalists feared what they did not understand (Baptist doctrine).

Whatever the fear, whether it is a fear of man and his opinion or whether it's the collective fears of man, any fear, being the opposite of faith, is sin. If it's not of faith it can not please God. Sin does NOT please God.

It brings a snare. When I think of a snare I think of fishing or hunting. That hook is meant to catch or snare the fish, and usually, the harder the fish pulls, the more entangled it becomes. The trap is meant to snare the hunted animal, and the harder the animal fights, the weaker he gets, the more pain he is in, and the deeper the wound inflicted from the trap.

So it is with fear. When caught by it's snare, it drains us physically and emotionally and makes us spiritually weak. It causes pain that is needless, had we just avoided the snare to begin with. The longer we stay there, the deeper the wound we gain.

Fear steals faith and robs joy. Fear brings a snare that stops us in our tracks.

I remember two years after I was saved, I attended a revival meeting in a church that was local to me at the time. The evangelist talked about giving everything to God. There could be no hidden room of our heart for which God did not hold the key. We could not hand God the keys to everything and hold on to one saying, "Here Lord, I give you everything, except this one tiny area. That's mine. But you can have everything else!"

He mentioned it could be a sin we refused to give up or it could be an area of service we refused to do, it could be any area of our life where, maybe not verbally, but certainly by our actions we told the Lord to keep His hands off.

Oh how conviction broke me that night! I was saved, I had given up a lot of old things in my life and allowed God to replace them. God had been gracious to give me victory over a lot of things at that point. Yet there was this one area of my life, where I actually would say out loud and to anyone who asked, "I'll do anything BUT ______." (What it was is not important.)

I can literally remember having told the Lord, "I'll do anything you want, go anywhere you want, be whatever you want, just please don't ask of me this one thing, because I can not and will not do it."

That night the Lord put His finger right there. I tried to resist, but I realized something: until I was fully surrendered and willing to do ANYTHING God required of me, I could never go forward in my Christian life. He could not use an unwilling vessel.

What held me back? Fear. I was afraid that if I gave God that area of my life He'd make me do it. And I was afraid if I had to do it I would be faced with the failure I'd seen in the lives of others regarding that particular thing. And so I held on for dear life, thinking I knew better than God.

I still remember His dealing with me. I could trust God for eternal salvation, but not something dealing with this present, mortal life? I knew better than an omnipotent, omniscient God? Most importantly, what if that WAS God's will for my life, and until I surrendered it I could never be all God intended for me to be?

When I finally went to the altar and brokenly (and oh, I was broken alright! Fighting God makes you tired!) gave Him that part I was holding back, it was with His sweet peace that He gave in return, and a promise that He could give me better than my fear.

That was many years ago, and only one example of the times God has had to conquer my fears. Sometimes He deals with me in tender mercy and is so compassionate when I feel that I probably deserve His whopping. And sometimes, because I insist in holding on to whatever the given fear may be, He has to break me, and pry my fingers off one by one until I am once again resting in His peace.

You'd think by now I would have learned...fear brings a snare. Any fear does. It stops you in your tracks and until it's dealt with you can't go forward to what God has for you.

You ask, then how can you say that verse encourages you? What's encouraging about being caught in a snare?

It's the last part of the verse that encourages me. "...but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe." When I'm caught in that snare and my physical and emotional strength has been extinguished and when I'm stuck, unable to go forward, if I will but put my trust in the Lord, I'm safe. He releases me from the snare. He sets me free from the bondage I had put myself under.

When I think of the word "safe," I think of a small child fearing a thunderstorm who runs to their mother or father. That parent lovingly takes the child in his or her arms and holds the child. They may speak soft words of comfort, or they may silently rock the child to sleep, but that child knows whether words are spoken or not, no matter how bad the storm rages outside, they are safe in the arms of someone who loves them, and that's good enough.

How much more so it is with us running from a storm to our Heavenly Father? He never turns us away! He lovingly takes us up in His arms, and He may speak words of comfort or He may simply hold us securely until it passes, but in His arms is peace, and the faith that no matter how loud the storm rages, there is safety in His embrace.

I may often struggle with fears, but it's when I run to my Father that He assures me, all is well. I can trust Him. He is still in control. He knows the end from the beginning. He holds all my tomorrows. He is God, and He is good. In those moments, I am at peace. I am safe. And when you cast yourself on His mercies, so are you. Put your trust in Him...it's there you will truly be safe.