Pray While You’re Prey Devotion Plan For Singles, Part VSample

When Fear Leads to Safety

Quote from Pray While You’re Prey:

“I do not speak of fear in the sense of being scared, but in the sense of reverence and respect. Reverence and respect for God and God’s Word lead to strong confidence, refuge, contentment, and salvation from death.”

My dad has a booming voice. Small children are often afraid when he speaks in his “Mufasa” voice. For a lot of my life, it was that voice that kept me out of trouble. Not wanting to hear the disappointment in my father’s voice or not wanting to hear the discipline in my father’s voice was the cause for many decisions that I made in my life. I did not and do not fear my father, but he commands such authority that I do have an incredible level of respect for his opinion and his guidance.

Even though, when little children hear that big, booming voice, it scares the bejeezes out of them, they also know that the man behind that voice will protect them and care for them. There have been many occasions when I have seen my niece and nephews go from crying because my dad raised his voice to cuddling up in his lap of safety in a matter of seconds. It is because the voice may be scary, but the children innately know that behind that big voice is an even bigger heart that truly cares about their well-being.

It is the same with our relationship with God. If you read the Bible and see how God dealt with disobedience, especially in the Old Testament, you might be fearful of Him. But the proper response is to be obedient because of reverence for God. We should listen to His commands for our lives, because we respect that He knows what is best. When we come to that place of reverence and respect, then God can keep us safe. When we surrender to His Will, we can lay at His feet and just worship without having a concern for any calamity or uncertainty that may surround our lives. This is the kind of fear that leads to safety.

If you ever watch scary movies, you will see that when people are being chased and are scared, they sometimes make irrational decisions that put them in more danger. For example, they run up stairs or into woods. This is not the type of fear that God desires for us to have of Him. He wants us to have a respectful fear of Him. He does not want us to be so scared that we jump into irrational decisions and unnatural situations. He wants us to allow Him to guide us into His safety. He wants us to experience our best lives, the lives He has planned for us.

Prayer

Thank You, God, for being a God Whom I can love and respect.

Please forgive me for allowing irrational fear to cloud my judgment.

Lord, please help me to know that there is safety in Your arms and that You will always lead me on the best path.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen