14 All in Verses for MenSample

Are you ensnared by fear?

This is Vince Miller.

Our text today is from Proverbs 29:25. It reads:

The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe. — Proverbs 29:25

The word“snare” is such a strong image. A snare is a trap designed to capture animals by looping them with a noose. It consists of a length of wire that is fashioned into a loop and then anchored to the ground. You place the snare strategically where the target animal will likely pass through it and thus trap it.

In this case, the snare is not a wire but fear. But it’s not anyone’s fear. It’s your fear. This means our fear is our snare. It’s a trap of our own making that we get trapped by, which is stupid when you think about it. Why would I set a snare for myself? But as the proverb suggests, we do this all the time when it comes to fear.

Instead, the exhortation is to turn our attention from fear to faith. But to do this, we have to fix our attention to a new object. We must turn our attention away from our fears to trusting in the Lord. If we do, we will be safe. We will be free from the trap set for ourselves if we will set our minds to the Lord.

So what’s your mind set to? Is it set to a fear that has set a trap for you? If so, name it, confess it, and reject it. Instead, turn your attention to the Lord. Set your trust in him, and he will keep you safe from anything and everything you fear.