Escaping the snare of fear

Sin is, in some ways, like an iceberg. Often there’s an element of our sin that is visible – like the part of an iceberg that’s seen above the surface of the water. Our lies, our exaggerations, our failure to speak out for justice and truth, our going-along with the crowd rather than following Jesus. Such things are observable, like the tip of the iceberg. But underneath the visible part of our sin, there’s something much bigger. A deeper sin that our ‘surface sins’ emerge from. For many of us, an underlying sin is the fear of others. That’s why we lie or keep quiet or compromise. Deep inside we’re scared of what people think of us. The pastor Kevin DeYoung writes this: “There is no sin so prevalent, so insidious, and so deep as the sin of fearing people more than we fear God.”

The bible is full of stories of people who feared others and sinned openly as a result – Abraham, Saul, Peter – to name a few. Proverbs 29 verse 25 tells us that “The fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.”

The fear of others is a snare. It will trap us. So how do we escape the snare? Proverbs gives us the answer: by trusting in the Lord as we grow in our fear of him. By comparing others to him. By seeing that he is so much bigger and better. He alone is to be feared.

God is eternal. He is the all-powerful creator of the universe. His greatness no one can fathom. All wisdom and knowledge are his. He is all knowing. 

In comparison to God, the bible describes humans as a mist, as fine dust, as chaff, as less than nothing. Yes, humans can be intimidating and seemingly powerful – but not when compared to God.  

“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” asks the Holy One in Isaiah 40 v25. We should mediate on our response to those questions. We need to grow in our fear of the Lord, to see the foolishness of fearing anyone else. 

And as we focus on God, we’ll see not just his awesome power and wisdom but we’ll see his love. His love for people like us – who so often betray him because we are afraid of others. 

There’s song by Casting Crowns called “Who am I?” It speaks of our smallness: “I am a flower quickly fading… a vapour in the wind.” It also reminds us that the great God, in his love, has chosen to make us his own. It ends with these words “Whom shall I fear for I am yours.” Christians can be secure in God’s love and confident in his power and good purposes. We are his. To know and remind ourselves of these truths is the way to break the hidden fear of people that lies beneath so much of our visible sin.

Further reading & listening

You can listen to the Casting Crowns song here: Casting Crowns – Who Am I

To find out about this topic I recommend “When people are big and God is small” by Ed Welch.