Fear of Man
““Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him. When they found Him, they said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.”
But He said to them, “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also...””
The fear of man is a terrible thing. Jesus had his priorities in order - The Father first, always because He knew from where His strength came... That is why He was an early riser, that is why He spent time with His Father every single morning. He was never impressed by man’s position in life. It didn’t matter who it was - old or young people, rich or poor, Jesus would only do what His Father told Him to do. He was never chasing after popularity.
I looked up in the Oxford Dictionary the definition of the word popular, it is to be liked or admired by many. That was not His concern, not in the slightest. When the disciples found Jesus, they said, “Lord, the crowds are waiting for you.” What was His response? “Let us go to the next towns.” In other words: they have heard the message, we are going on to other people now. It is the fear of man that is a terrible thing and it puts great pressure on people to try and perform to make people like you. Jesus had none of that.
I remember reading about Evan Roberts, who was used by God to start a huge revival in Wales, he was a coal miner’s son. He walked into a meeting one night, the hall was packed with miners who had just come up from underground. They had been working in the depths of the mines and they were packed together in this hall, shoulder to shoulder, waiting with great expectancy to hear the preaching of the man of God.
He walked in and took his jacket off, he had to walk across the shoulders of the men because he couldn’t get into the hall. He said: “Do you believe in the word of God?”
They all said, “Yes”, in unity.
Do you believe the word of God says, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in the midst of them.”?
They all shouted out in unison, “Yes, we believe that.”
And then he said, “Well, you don’t need me.”
And he put on his jacket and he walked off. He walked out of the hall, went down the street and went to find a couple of other people he could speak to... no fear of man!
Be careful today that we are not impressed by the demands of men on our lives.
Have a wonderful day. God bless you.