Most of our fears are tangible and easily described. You know…heights, disease, oceans, flying, failure, death…to name but a few. But the sneakiest and most dangerous fear of all—for me–is RARELY discussed.
It’s this people-pleasing trap—FEAR OF MAN (FOM).
I wrote about this subject last year, but I did not hit it hard enough. Today, I will because this fear is stalking YOU and me and every other Christian on planet earth RIGHT NOW…today.
The FEAR OF MAN is:
A devious chameleon playing with our mind and telling us GOD cannot meet our needs, but man can.
A clever poser spreading its message through people who wink at us to create the con of false sincerity.
The SIZE OF OUR GOD determines our level of defense against the FOM. If our God is small, those false smiles and winks will tease us, tempt us, and eventually trap us.
When we fear man, we cannot trust Jesus. If we are seeking glory from others, we ignore the glory of God. The best, and quickest, route to SHRINKING our trust in God is to not spend time with him.
If we allow people to be BIG, God will be SMALL.
FOM makes us GLORY CHASERS, not GOD CHASERS. How can we trust Jesus if we fear man? How can we trust Jesus if we don’t talk to him?
How can we fully trust Jesus when we haven’t given him a chance to help us deal with the world’s grip on our life as we FEAR MAN more than we love God? Does man offer a refuge? Does man offer sanctuary? Of course not. Our first priority is to properly recognize God as BIG and STRONG and man as TINY and WEAK.
The bottom line? Our heart does not have space for man and God. This has nothing to do with LOWERING our respect for people. It has everything to do with ELEVATING our commitment to God, spending time with him, and trusting him to provide what man cannot (see Proverbs 29:25 below).
I ask God to guard my heart from the FEAR OF MAN and channel those thoughts to my commitment to spend time with HIM every day. To make my goal to find peace and joy in HIS arms, not in man’s approval.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
If the FEAR OF MAN is stalking you, why not ditch him right now and go to God?
“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.” Proverbs 29:25
