MONDAY May 6, 2019
Having Perspective
And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” But the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.”
1 Samuel 16:2-3
Notice, the prophet Samuel was very worried. If he obeyed the voice of the Lord in anointing a new king, he feared Saul would kill him. God had a master plan and all Samuel needed to do was follow His divine guidance.
Israel faced many oppressors in their history. God sought to comfort His people by giving them a greater perspective. He told them:
Do not fear the reproach of men, nor be afraid of their insults. For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool; but My righteousness will be forever, and My salvation from generation to generation”(Isaiah 51:7-8).
I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you should be afraid of a man who will die, and of the son of a man who will be made like grass? And you forget the Lord your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth;
You have feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he has prepared to destroy (Isaiah 51:12).
When Jesus sent out His disciples; He gave them an important perspective:And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Matthew 10:28).
As Christians we should not fear man; we only need to fear God. Proverbs 29:25 gives us another good perspective: The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe. Do you live in constant fear because of man’s oppression? Has fear crippled you from serving the Lord? Do not be fearful; trust in the Lord your Maker.
It is only the fear of God that can deliver us from the fear of man.
~John Witherspoon~
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