Proverbs 29:25

NASB	NLT	VOICE
25 The fear of man brings a snare, But one who trusts in the Lord will be protected.	25 Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety.	25 If you fear other people, you are walking into a dangerous trap; but if you trust in the Eternal, you will be safe.

No Longer Afraid of Others

Fearing others is all about the anxiety or concern about what others think or might do. Biblically, this could be fearing persecution, social ostracism, or losing status. Fearing others can lead us to do things that are contrary to God’s will. Those that trust God with all their heart will have security. Trusting God involves acknowledging God’s power, wisdom, and goodness even when life seems challenging. This trust requires believers to live out their faith through obeying God’s commands and relying on his guidance. When we do this, we will find safety, protection, and exaltation. In ancient times, these high places were secure locations away from danger and enemies. The exaltation describes how those that trust God will be lifted up from the fears and threats that might trap us. 

Fear Leads to Wild Behaviors

The fear of others can lead us to compromise and sin. What I mean by that is that when we start to fear the opinions and actions of other people, we start to compromise who we are. We start to doubt our story, our character, our morals, and our relationship with God. We start to take the weight of their words and actions personally and allow them to take precedent over God’s word. We start to mold and mend ourselves to follow the teachings and commands of man over God Himself. This is when we start to compromise.ourselves and fall into the trap of pleasing people over God. I remember walking this line a lot over the last three years. 

Walking the Line Between Faith and Fear

I have had to manage commands from bosses and leadership that caused a buffer against my own morals and ethics. Through prayer and advice from my therapists, I learned how to successfully stay true to my position in God and succeed in my relationship with Him, while abiding by the rule of man. Is this easy? Absolutely not. My insurance job taught me that. Is it doable? Yes. When I walked this line, I found myself growing closer to God. I found myself growing in my walk with God. I didn’t lean on a lot of other people in my struggles with the insurance job. It stayed between me and God (and my doctors) for the most part. The less people I got involved with for advice and guidance, the more it made me internalize what I was truly wrestling with and how can I truly move forward in a way that honors God and my own boundaries at the same time. As an example, the ENTIRETY of my life insurance sales journey, I told myself and those around me, “At the end of the day, I do not want to sell my soul to the devil.” That phrase I kept close because I constantly felt like what I was being taught and told to do was not right. It didn’t feel good to me. It didn’t feel right. There was something in the pit of my stomach that kept nagging me. The reason that I stayed for as long as I did was the paycheck, the sustainability that I needed to live. It wasn’t the case that I didn’t trust God, but I needed to ensure that my physical situation was covered. 

Faith in a New Normal

Now, it’s been a month since I was released from that job. I find myself in a state of stasis. A slowed place where things are moving, but I am stuck. I’ve created a lot of different paths with different job potentials, education advancements, progress in hobbies like this blog and video content, and more. It’s been a rare place for me, and one I haven’t experienced for a long time. January through April was a combination of my tax job and my admin job at the church, the last two weeks of April were a break between everything and the start of my insurance job, then May through August was the insurance job. It’s now been a month of movement, and a month of stasis. I think I’ve been burning the candle at both ends and my body is trying to catch up with the high stress I’ve been under. I think not having the structure has allowed my energy and motivation to shatter. I think not being forced to go out and do something made me more complacent and more stagnant.  

Now, it’s time for a change. First, it was to reset the environment. To get it back in a way that I move and flow in the way I need to move. Next, it’s to develop structure. To start re-creating a schedule that allows me to take care of myself and start to advance my life in the ways that I need to do so that I can do what God has called me to do. Then, it’s time to develop physical activities. I’ve been trying to walk more to be more active and lose some weight, but I’ve been struggling to stay focused and motivated to do it. I need to add other tasks, so I will be playing basketball and doing some Pilates. Then it’s time to be more social and purposeful, so I’ve been contemplating getting back to youth ministry and starting up some tech help workshops again for seniors as I’ve done in the end.

All of this to say, I’ve been allowing the fear of others to stop my progress. The anxiety of thinking what others would think amplifies this to me. It’s time to let that go. It’s time  to trust God complicitly. It’s time to start living the life that God created me to live. 

Reflection Questions

1. What situation caused the opinion of others to change your ways?
2. What compromises did you have to make as a result of that situation? If you didn’t, how did you resist the temptation?
3. Did you recognize that you were straying away from God? If so, how did you get back on track?

Call to Action

Read Psalm 56:3-4. Thank God for his protection over your life. Ask God to show you what fears are present in your life and pray for strength to have faith in his protection over the harm that other people can cause. 

Check out the next slice of manna: Manna for the Mind #282