365 Days with God - Day 133: Why Do We Fear?

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 133, May 2, 2014

Readings: Psalm 132, Numbers 12, Isaiah 51:1-23, Isaiah 52:1-12, Colossians 3:18-25, Colossians 4:1-18

"I, I am he who comforts you;
who are you that you are afraid of man who dies,
of the son of man who is made like grass,
and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth,
and you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy?
And where is the wrath of the oppressor?
He who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
He shall not die and go down to the pit, 
neither shall his bread be lacking.
I am the LORD your God, 
who stirs up the sea so that it's waves roar - the LORD of hosts is his name.
And I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand,
establishing the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth,
and saying to Zion, 'You are my people.'" (Isaiah 51:12-16)

It seems that I continually fear people. Not in the cowering, fear-for-my-life way, but in a way that their opinions and approval still affect my decision making. And that is not how it should be! We are called to love God, and serve Him only. That does not mean we ignore people - it does mean that we love them because God asks us to, and we love them how God asks us to - not the way they ask us to.

But all too often, I was to please people, to make them happy. If I think about it, I put their opinions, their approval, in front of God's. This is what happens every time that I make a decision that goes against what God says, and is merely to please man. But who is man? What power does man have over me?

Compared to God, man is nothing! Compared to God, man is "made like grass" - which in my experience, is short lived, weak and merely a carpet to be walked upon. What would it look like if I lived my life beholden to my yard? That sounds pretty ridiculous. (Though I know a few people who live their lives around their yard. I am not one of them.)

But we are God's people. His beloved children. The God who made the sea, the heavens and the earth. What power could people hold over us? What reason would we have to follow them instead of God? My prayer is that I would learn to follow God when I desire to follow man - that God would be the most important one in my life. Even if it means disappointing the grass.