Day 76
Exchange Fear of
Human Beings for Hope in God
Men
can do nothing against God, and God can make all that men do against his
people, to turn to their good.[i]
Matthew Henry
~~~
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J
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esus made it possible for God to
interact with us apart from judgment. Our Savior doesn't overlook our
sins; He has removed them from us. When we come to God cleansed by the
Blood of Christ, our Heavenly Father is freed to act out His perfect grace,
mercy, love, and kindness to us, undeserving though we are.
We fear the wrong
things for ourselves and for our children. We are terrified that we won’t fit
in; we fear rejection for how we look, what we believe, and how we live. We
seek to camouflage ourselves so that our outward appearances might possibly
escape negative attention; we want to look acceptable in the eyes in the world.
How sad for us that when our goal is to be acceptable to our fellow human
beings, we will never be happy. Our joy resides fully in our God.
Hebrews 13:13 says
that just as Jesus suffered outside the city gate in order to sanctify us,
“…let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.” Matthew Henry’s commentary on this passage
says that we must go to Jesus outside the camp, willingly separate ourselves
from the world’s ways, and by faith “…seek in Christ the rest and peace which
this world cannot afford us.”[ii]
We have to fully
accept that we are going to be different in the eyes of the world. We must give
up the effort to conform to the world’s changing beliefs of what is acceptable,
and release our fear of being rejected by human beings. Instead, as we place
our trust in God’s protection and vindication, we are freed to make our primary
goal to honor Him in everything we do. This is a life-transforming change of
perspective; if we do not fear human judgment then we are freed to identify
with Christ’s concerns for those who do not know Him, and for the suffering of
those in need.
God does not change,
but our culture does. When Scripture-based truths are viewed as archaic, we
must nevertheless stand firm in our belief that God means what He says. We err
when we teach our children how to avoid suffering for being different; what we
ought to teach them is how to suffer for Christ. Our lives should be examples
of faith in the sure knowledge that human beings can do nothing against God
(Psalm 118:6), and that anything they do to us will be turned into blessings by
the awesome power of the Holy Spirit.
When we place our
hope fully in Jesus for ourselves and for those we love, He will not disappoint
us. Our only hope of peace with God lies with the One who suffered outside the
camp. When we join him outside of conformity to the world and its standards, He
will always make us a way through. When we turn from our fear of human judgment
and place our hope fully in Christ, we will have peace.
Pray: Lord I
confess I have been more afraid of what people think of me than I have been of
failing to live for You. I have been frightened that my children would be hurt
by human rejection when I ought to have been afraid they would not learn of the
richness of Your provision when they give You first place in their lives.
Forgive me my lack of trust in You to take care of me and those I love when we
don’t fit in. I choose to come to You, outside the camp. I choose to stand
close to You, though You suffered. I choose to be identified with Jesus, the
author and perfecter of our faith.[iii]
Amen.
~~~
It is better to take
refuge in the Lord
than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
Psalm 118:8-9
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