Fear God – Not Man!

2 Chron 14- 16 What Goes Wrong?
There are stories about those who start strong yet finish last. In today’s reading, we see Asa start as a faithful king, yet he becomes unfaithful at the end of his life. We struggle with these stories because, in some ways, it is a reflection of ourselves, and we fool ourselves by saying I won’t be like Asa. But, unfortunately, we are more like Asa than we care to admit.

So what went wrong with Asa? What goes wrong with us? Asa is a classic example of what we read in Proverbs. We see the test of his faith was in a crisis, and he feared men more than God. The Proverbs author reminds us that “the fear of man is a snare, BUT he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted.” [Prov 29:25]Like Asa, we allow fear to control our decision-making. Beloved, was not God faithful in the past? Learn from Asa; don’t fall into his trap. When the tempter comes with his lies, make a conscious decision to do as James says; resist the devil, and he will flee. [James 4:7] The psalmist tells us that it is better to trust the Lord than to put confidence in men. Remember this truth: men will fail you every time. [Ps 118:8]

We could make a top ten list of why we fail, but at the number one spot is the fear of men.
How do you handle the enemy of fear? Share your thoughts.