This morning I come to these pages with my heart twisted in a tangle of compassion, disappointment, and a simmering anger I keep trying to hand over to God. I feel like I’m watching people I love drift toward fear—fear of judgment, fear of rejection, fear of not fitting into some man-made standard. And I want to shake them and hold them all at once. I want to cry, “My fellow Christians, trust in the Lord always, please.” Every time I open Scripture, God reminds me that fear of people leads only to chains. “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.” (Proverbs 29:25) Yet so many of us still build our lives around pleasing other people instead of pleasing Him.
Jesus warned us about this so clearly. In Luke 12:4–5, He tells us not to fear those who can only harm the body but to fear God, who holds our eternity. And I know this in my mind. I repeat it in prayer. I speak it out loud when my thoughts get noisy. But then something happens—someone’s comment, someone’s threat, someone’s disapproval—and suddenly even the strongest believers I know shrink back, worried about what mere humans think. And I get frustrated, not because I feel superior, but because I know that prison all too well. I lived in it for years. I remember molding myself like clay in other people’s hands just so they wouldn’t judge me. It nearly crushed my soul.
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Sometimes I still feel that old pressure creeping back. When I sense someone’s disappointment in me, something inside me tenses. But then the Holy Spirit nudges me gently and sometimes not-so-gently: Stand firm. Trust God. Don’t give them your peace. I whisper Psalm 56:11 to myself: “In God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” It steadies me when everything else is shaking. But why does it feel like so many of my brothers and sisters forget this the moment life gets loud? Why do we crumble the second the world pushes back?
I guess what frustrates me most is watching believers exchange the shelter of God for the false safety of people’s approval. It’s like standing in the shadow of the Almighty, then running out into a storm because someone outside called your name. We act like we’re safer relying on human praise than divine protection. And it breaks my heart. It angers me. It exhausts me. Because the Lord offers us freedom, but fear makes us kneel before people as if they hold our future in their hands. They don’t. They never have.
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And yet—even in my frustration—compassion rises in me. I know how hard it is to trust God when everything feels uncertain. I know what it’s like to feel exposed, misunderstood, or judged. I know what it’s like to worry that obedience might cost you relationships, comfort, or opportunities. But I also know the sweetness of God’s protection. I know the strength that blooms when you finally surrender the need to please everyone. I know the peace that settles into your bones when you decide His voice is enough.
Last night I prayed for the church with a heaviness I couldn’t shake. I asked God to wake us up, shake us free, burn away our fear, and restore our reverence for Him alone. I asked Him to give courage to the timid, reassurance to the anxious, and holy stubbornness to those who need to stand their ground. I asked Him to remind us that safety is not found in blending in but in abiding in Him. And I asked Him to keep my own heart from falling into the same traps I see in others. Even in frustration, I know I’m not above the very struggles I grieve.
So here is my prayer for this morning, simple and raw:
Please keep me safe, O LORD, from those who oppose me and would do me harm. Guard my spirit from the fear of people. Make my life a holy praise to honor You. Strengthen every believer who is tempted to bow to the opinions of others. Break every chain of fear that keeps us from trusting You with our whole hearts. Remind us that You alone are our refuge, our fortress, our forever safety. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
And may tomorrow find me trusting You more than today.
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