Today I went to church with some friends who are soon leaving for the mission field. The service hadn’t begun yet, so I let my mind wander like the restless child who isn’t yet required to sit still and pay attention. Somehow I landed on the topic of the fear of man. It may not be as random as it sounds since I have been listening to the story of Nelson Mandela. I have a lot of respect for his ability to resist intimidation. It’s not an easy thing to do, and I have often, especially in the past, battled an unhealthy need for approval.
I was not pondering these thoughts with any great intensity, but God is a gifted opportunist and decided to pose a question. He said, “Do you know that I make people?” It may seem like an obvious question, but if you have ever heard God ask an “obvious” question you know as well as I do that they can have some rather unexpected results.
In the recent months God has been growing my love for Him as Creator. I have long had a deep sense of awe regarding nature and science, but He has been turning my Bunsen burner into a flamethrower. The poetry of creation in the book of Job has simply come alive. The eternity of God, knowing Him as the Ancient of Days, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and Omega, the God who was and is and is to come … well, you could lose me into the ether for three days.
But the connection of the fear of man and God making man was one that I had not seen like this before. Many times people have a way of filling up the frame and we can’t see anything else. It seemed that God stretched the frame and showed me there is something more to the picture. I realized that I have an audience with the Maker of any person standing in front of me. Think of that. I don’t care who it is or whether they love or hate you, they are a created being. They are as dependant on the creative genius of God as you are. And you have an invitation to commune with that same God. The Inventor. The Mastermind. The Maker of all Mankind. You have a relationship with Him. In light of that incredible dynamic, the person and their intimidation factor seem to shrink from the super-human status we give them. The size of the invention pales in comparison to that of the inventor.
In the past I had always looked at the power of God or His love or even pleasing Him over pleasing people as primary ways of overcoming the fear of man. I had never thought of the fact that my access to the Creator loomed like a giant presence over the shoulder of every person I talk to. That’s something to think about!
I know that people can (and do) still cause us very real pain and will do it regardless of what we know about them. But our ability to stand strong is still vitally important and so is our dignity as well. And while this perspective may not be the paramount bulwark against intimidation, it is still worth pondering. It has been soaking into my spirit like a gentle rain on the soil, and perhaps there are one or two others out there who will find great joy in this facet of their connection to the Maker of all Mankind.
rimoftheworld7.com 
Excellent. I am going to be chewing on this for a while as well. Thank you!
A sad article. I would never see a baby without sensing, pondering or engaging the parents who must exist, or the baby wouldn’t.
But add 25 years and I see a challenge before me and forget the God who must exist or the 25 year old wouldn’t.
I thought about what you said megan, when you make something and you care about what you make, you put time, thought , attention, preciseness, you think about what you want to make and how you are going to make it and you begin enjoying what you are making, its creativity in action, and when you are through, you look at it and are pleased with the creation, because as you made it, you paid attention to the details of the deisgn you had in mind when you started making what you were making. and then you go….. hmmm now that is good, so good, so very very good!!!!