Be Still And Know

Proverbs 29:25 The posh word for fearing other people is ‘anthropophobia’, and it can happen for all sorts of reasons. Perhaps other people are threatening us. The psalmists often spoke of the people who were out to get them. They seemed to be surrounded by people who were trying to trip them up and make their lives a misery. But fearing other people may simply be based on our fear of what they might think of us. It’s very easy for our lives to be controlled by our desire to please other people. We can be fearful of what they might think of what we are saying, wearing or where we are going. There is no doubt that, in every age, it is easy for fear of other people to become a dangerous and depressing trap. But the writer of Proverbs provides an alternative. There is a way out. Rather than using other people as our reference point we could turn to the Lord instead. And when we trust him we are entirely safe for a number of clear reasons. Firstly, God always loves us. However strong our relationship with o