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Take Refuge in the Lord
The Lord is for me; I will not fear;
What can man do to me?
The Lord is for me among those who help me;
Therefore I will look with satisfaction on those who hate me.
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.
- Psalm 118:6-9
I've seen fear do things to people that I would have told you were impossible. Fear of meaninglessness. Fear of loss. Fear of loneliness. Fear of powerlessness. Fear of embarrassment.
A man will deprive a woman of all other relationships to ensure that he means something to her. A woman will convince herself that she deserves to be ill-treated to ensure that she remains an object of some level of attention. A brother will construct an entire world of fantasy to ensure his family's esteem of him never falters. A sister will replace any opportunities for affection with mere cordiality to ensure she's never hurt again.
The common thread in the above examples is fear growing from relationships. There is some relationship or aspect of relationship that we value and want to protect so badly that we change. We pervert the relationship and we twist our own nature into something foreign in an attempt to secure that treasure. Therein lies the root of the problem. We've placed our treasure in the wrong hands.
The treasure for which we should change is a relationship with God because that change can only be to our good. That may cause some of our relationships with people to change, but they will never be twisted or perverted into something God never intended because He is our treasure. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.
If you haven't seen the above manifestations of fear, you've seen something like it. What have you seen in yourself? What do you fear right now that causes you to construct imaginary defenses? How have you twisted your character, your relationships, your view of yourself trying to protect a treasure that's meant to be with God?
Let Him give you meaning. Let Him fill your loss. Let Him occupy your quietness. Let Him work His power through you. Let Him glorify you. He designed and made you for the express purpose of doing those things for you through Jesus.
