Jeremiah 17:5-7 : The Lord says: Cursed is the man who puts his trust in mortal man and turns his heart away from God … but blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and has made the Lord his hope and confidence.”
For years I had the tendency to put my faith in people, in their approval or disapproval, in what doors they can open for me or even thought close on me, which caused me to fear man and not rely on God. I became dependent on other people's approval and their ability to open doors for me in my industry or even became financially dependent on them. This actually caused me more harm than good because I devalued my skills and experience, my self worth, I confused this as humbleness. The fear of man can immobilize us when we should take action, and gag us into silence when we should speak.
Each of us also instinctively knows our existence fits into a larger purpose or story and, despite our attempts to convince ourselves otherwise, it is impossible for us to create our own ultimate meaning. Deep down, we know such self-created meaning is absurd. So, we cannot help but derive our identity, value, and meaning from external sources. Moreover, we instinctively seek them from external personal sources; we know deep down they are bestowed on us by a Person.
What is actually scary if you think about it is that the person(s) to whom we ascribe most authority in our business — to define our business, who we are, what we’re worth, what we should do, and how we should do it — is the person(s) we fear the most, because it is the person(s) whose approval we want most because we think they can get us to where we want to be.
The problem is you are trying to get from people what only God can give.
It feels powerful, but its power is deceptive. God has the power to free us and he wants us living in the safe freedom of trusting him. But he frees us not by removing our fear of disapproval, but transferring it to the right place. And typically, he frees us by helping us face our false fears so that they lose their power over us.
A valuable lesson we should learn is Our God provides and we should rely on Him and not on the empty promises of people or our own abilities for that matter. Doubt causes faithlessness.
If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask him and he will tell you, for he is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask him; he will not resent it. But when you ask him be sure that you really expect him to tell you, for a doubtful mind will be as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind; and every decision you then make will be uncertain, as you turn first this way and the that.
If you don’t ask with faith, don’t expect the Lord to give you any solid answer (James 1:5-8).
The fear of man is a closely clinging sin that entangles our legs in the race of faith and we must lay it aside (Hebrews 12:1). How?
Turn your focus to that which God had given you to do in the first place and God will take care of the rest.
With Love
Liesel