December 6 , 2000

Reading: Proverbs 29:22-27

 

“The fear of a man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe” (25).

 

Have you ever felt trapped? Our text tells us it could be because we are afraid of something or someone. The opposite of fear is trust, not trust in our own abilities to get ourselves out of whatever snare we are in, but trust in the Lord. The more Christians I get to know the more I find are trapped. I am in good company because this is the condition that I so often find myself. We can spend time describing the snare in which we are caught and, after much discussion, we pray about it. We can share wisdom with each other and feel inspired to “deal with it”, but the next time we speak of these things we find we are still trapped by the same snare!

There is only one way to escape from the snare and that is “trust”, trust in the Lord, “But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe”. Doesn’t that sound easy? It sounds a lot easier than it is to do. I find I am battling my own pride because I like to believe in my own ability. “I got myself into this mess and I will get myself out!” Someone once told me that Christianity is nothing more than a crutch. In other words I cannot face my problems so I have to fool myself into believing God will take care of them. Obviously that is a statement made by one who does not know God, yet often times as Christians, our actions say the same thing. Our lack of trust in God is saying that our problems are bigger than His ability to take care of them. If we really believe what we say we would trust Him at all times.

King Ahaz faced a problem and handled it the way a lot of us handle ours. Two of his enemies joined together to fight against Jerusalem and when he heard the news his “heart and the heart of his people were moved as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind” Isaiah 7:1,2. But God sent Isaiah to speak with Ahaz and tell him, "Take heed and be quiet; do not fear or be fainthearted for these two stubs of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and the son of Remaliah” (4).

Isn’t that great? That which was a tremendous threat and problem to Ahaz was nothing more than ‘stubs of smoking firebrands’ to God. If only we could see things from God’s point of view we would save ourselves a lot of stress. But we are not God and this is where trust comes in. We need to trust Him because He sees things for what they really are. When adversity comes our way we are like the trees that are blown from side to side by the wind. There are some trees in my neighborhood that lean a certain way even when the wind is not blowing. A friend of mine saw them and said, “You can see which way the wind blows around here!” As Christians some of us have a permanent ‘lean’ because we have not learned how to trust God.

God’s advice to Ahaz was “Take heed and be quiet; do not fear or be fainthearted” (4). This advice is only possible when we trust God. If you read further in Isaiah 7 you will see that one of the most wonderful promises came out of this situation, “Therefore the LORD Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (14). This Son, Jesus Christ, is the One in whom we must trust, for whoever does will “be safe”.

Moses told the Children of Israel the same thing, “Do not be afraid, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish” Exodus 14:13. The army of Egypt was barreling down on them and they were trapped between them and the Red Sea. Now that’s a problem! God’s deliverance of His people is one of history’s most well know stories.