Today's Devotional

 

 July 17, 2009

           

Subject:  Fear God And Live

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

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I love this first because it talks about how fear gets us caught up; ensnares us or creates a situation of hopelessness.  Perhaps we are like the leopard in the picture, running from hunters and then getting caught in a snare.  Of course we all have things that we fear, but the verse continues on to provide a remedy for the feelings of fear that often overtake us and causes us to run into problems.  A healthy fear uses those feelings to set off an alarm which says, "run for cover." The problem is where people run for cover.  We know that cover is in the Lord Himself.  

When I was deployed to Iraq as the head of security for our team, I had the responsibility for briefing the personnel when they arrived.  The one thing I made sure to tell them was, "be paranoid just as you are today and you will stay alive while here in Iraq."  See the problem with some of the people there was that they looked at their fear and then put their trust in themselves, their weapons or their commanders.  That is the snare.  The only remedy for someone caught in a snare is outside intervention.  You can't free yourself nor can anyone else in this world free you from a snare created by fear.  

When we put our trust in God, He is able to free us from the snare and the fear that created it.  The reality is that many us fear to begin to trust themselves or others not realizing that the trust they seek is from those who are ensnared or caught up even as they are.

Today, the only fear you need is the fear of God.  With fear of the Lord, you will be safe from any and everything else and you are then able to live a life of boldness because while the world might pursue you there will be no snare.  If they catch you, you will soon realize that you caught them instead because God is still keeping you safe.    

Carlen