Proverbs 29:25
The fear of man lays a snare,
but he who trusts in the LORD is safe.
One of the central mistakes we can make when it comes to faith is to ask ourselves the wrong question. If we ask ourselves “Do I trust God?” we put our feet in the snare of fear, for of course we can never really be sure of our own motives. Such introspection always forces us to ask if we are being really honest. And if we insist we are, then we must ask if we are being really honest about being really honest. It puts us a psychological funhouse of infinite mirrors. So rather than ask “Do I trust God?” it is vastly better to turn our gaze outward rather than inward and ask “Is God trustworthy?” That is a question we can answer because that is a question God has given us evidence to answer. Christ crucified and risen is the answer. He who trusts in him is delivered from the fearful and fruitless attempt to self-examine oneself into a state of certainty about our own reliability. Today, turn your gaze away from your fears and outward to the Lord who can be trusted. “Be not afraid!”
