Fear Will Snare You
How to foolishly entrap yourself + how to wisely avoid it
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The fear of [people] lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.
Proverbs 29:25 (ESV)
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About 10 years ago, I started digging into the wisdom from the Proverbs.
I heard a sermon series from Harold Bullock, a pastor down in Ft. Worth, Texas.
He talked about wisdom and folly and framed folly as “self-defeating strategies.” Meaning that the person who takes their advice from foolish ideas — usually ideas they come up with themselves, because fools often spurn outside wisdom — is doomed to be defeated in life.
This verse falls into the category of “self-defeating strategies.”
Snares are used to trap small game, such as a rabbit. You would find a trail, set the snare, and sometime later a rabbit would likely run through the trail and get caught in the trap, and then…
Dinnertime!
So, whenever I fear people instead of trusting in the Lord, I am laying a snare for myself.
Thus, a self-defeating strategy.
A hunter that falls victim to their own trap not only looks silly, but they could be injured.
In a similar way, if I ignore the wisdom of God and lay a trap for myself, I’ll not only look silly but could face some serious consequences.
Which is why I must continually remind myself that people’s opinions are temporary.
Only God’s opinion really matters.
— Ricky Ketchum
Copyright © 2025 by Ricky Ketchum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.
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