Untouchable

Untouchable

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

 

As a boy, when my dad wasn’t in a fistfight or hustling the neighbors for spare change to buy band aids for his brother who had supposedly, been “mauled by a bear”…

He was hunting.

The tools of the trade were Beagles, rifles and snares.  Oh my.

Unlike a clumsy Looney-Toon trap that any critter has enough sense to avoid, a snare is an almost invisible little noose arranged strategically along a familiar path that will trap and strangle its victim.  If you are compassionate or squeamish, once you get over the hunting analogy, I trust you’ll appreciate the brilliance of the symbolism:

The minute we make decisions based on what people will think of us, which most of us so easily do, we are that little bunny hopping down a snare-laden trail.  We live at risk of being captured and strangled at any moment.

Could that be any clearer?

I don’t know about you, but I’ve felt the choke hold too many times.

Worried about what my high school volleyball team would think if I stood against their dishonesty, I perpetuated the lie to our coach that we had indeed run our full warm-up mile and not just the half-mile we had actually run.

Trapped in a lie.

Wanting to impress my friends as a domestic empress of a designer kitchen, I wallow in discontentment over my beech-coloured, builder-grade cabinets.

Entangled in envy and ingratitude.

Wanting desperately to look like I’m doing a good job at this parenting thing, I’ve parented my daughters in ways that salvaged my reputation in the moment but did not benefit, grow or shepherd their tender hearts.

Ensnared by pride and the resulting self-centered, graceless parenting.

It’s a dangerous road we walk my friends, choking our spiritual vitality, joy and fruitfulness.  Have you felt it?

 

Do you know what the good news is in our passage today?  God doesn’t just give us instructions on how to step over these traps.   He gives us a ticket out.  But it’s so simple and familiar, we could miss it.  So stay with me…

It is those who will “trust in the lord” who are safe from these snares.  The word “safe” here means:

“To be set securely and inaccessibly on high.”

In a word…

Untouchable.

As soon as we trust (know, believe and act on) what God says about:

  • Our worth
  • Our parenting
  • Our stuff
  • Our purpose
  • And everything else,

God lifts us away from all those snares, and places us so high above it all that we are untouchable by the opinions of people.  Seriously.

Friend, get your Bible out and try it.  The view is incredible.

 

P.S.  And the winners of the “You Are So Wonderful for Sharing My FB Post and Signing Up For My Blog” book give-away contest are:

Megan Massaro and Vanessa Graham!

6 Comments

  1. Laura

    Love it! Great food for thought!

    Reply
  2. Lesa Mena

    I almost laughed out loud when I read this. I have been listening to a podcast by Steven Furtick of Elevation Church called, “Brave”. It struck such similar places that I could only laugh and thank God for His teaching through such gifted people. Not gonna lie, still working on it, but I will get there for sure.

    Reply
  3. Mary Beth

    Good reminder. Why don’t I always choose to be untouchable? I’ll be working on that.

    Reply
  4. Hannah

    Lovely, Janet! I just used that verse this morning at a speaking event I had at a mom’s group. And since you were my inspiration to start speaking, I think I need to thank you twice. 🙂 So thank you, thank you. Beautiful work, friend!

    Reply
    • Janet

      I’m so glad you are speaking! If I lived closer, I’d be there in a heartbeat.

      Reply
  5. Jenny

    What a convicting and encouraging message. So much work to be done. This is a keeper for my children also. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply

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