Divine Protection and God’s Will: Prov. 29:25

by | Jul 15, 2024 | Posts by Mark, Proverb of the Day, TAC Blog

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Diving into Proverbs 29:25 – Part 2

Dr. Mark E. Shaw (with TAC TEAM)

If I trust in Jesus as a Christian, doesn’t God say He will protect me from harm? Doesn’t God always protect His Children? I trust in Him so why are bad things happening to me?

Proverbs 29:25 “The fear of mankind is a snare, but the one who trusts in the LORD is protected. [1]

The Word of God cannot be read like a fortune cookie.

Proverbs are not full-proof promises. Instead, they are sage advice coming from the Creator who knows all things and knows what’s best. We must understand the character of God – that He is love. Trusting in Him and His character enables us to be secure in our identity and to serve. As believers we are called to help others come to right conclusions about who God is and what God is saying in His Word.

In the above referenced Proverb, there is a contrast between fearing GOd and trusting in God. Fearing mankind (that often leads to people pleasing) and trusting in God are set apart in this Proverb as opposites to drive home the heart behind the warning and the solution to the warning. Therefore, if someone were to take the second part of the Proverb without the first half they are being unwise.

My blog about this Proverb in Part 1 contains the teaching about the first part of the Proverb, so please review that first if you have not already done so.

So what does it mean to trust God in this context? Trusting the Lord and fearing God will be shown in your life by loving and obeying HIM at His Word. The wisdom from the second part of this Proverb communicates that generally speaking, there is a protection for the people of God who trust Him.

But does that mean that people cannot shoot us?

Does that mean people can’t kill us?

Are we forever prevented from stubbing our toe on the sidewalk?

So does it mean that evil won’t ever come upon us?

The answer to all of the above questions is: “No!” because these questions are rooted in false systems of belief that are not biblically accurate.

Sadly, some Christians believe those misconceptions. People have made a wrong conclusion using this general principle of protection when you trust God. It is easy to misinterpret, or even worse, misuse the Scriptures wrongly for selfishly-applied reasons.

This is exactly how Satan tempted Jesus in the Garden (Luke 4:9-11). Satan used a false application and errant interpretation of the very Word of God in an attempt to tempt Jesus to sin in Luke 4. You and I are capable of being tempted in this way, as well as tempting others in this same way if we are not careful readers of the Word!

Poetic wisdom of God is found in the Proverbs, but we must take in the entire context of all the Scriptures… all that God’s Word teaches us.

There are other examples of inaccurate readings of what the Bible teaches:

  • Anyone who says “We are all God’s children,” is only proclaiming a truth for those individuals who are trusting in Christ Jesus alone for salvation and God as Abba Father. [John 1]
    • As children of God redeemed by Him, we are serving Him with our lives. [buried with Him in Christ – Colossians 2:12; Rom 6:4]
  • Anyone who says “I guess I messed up God’s plan this time. I missed God’s will,” is believing an error also. God is reliably going to accomplish His will according to His plan. [No plan of His can be thwarted says Job 42:2.] My sin and your sin is separated from God accomplishing His will. We are responsible for our sin before God, and He always accomplishes His will.
    • We must trust in His Sovereign will to bring about His glory, our sanctification into Christ-likeness, and He is faithful to redeem the trials of our lives and our failures into something good for those of us who love God. [Romans 8:28]

So divine protection is a concept that is true according to God’s will though. God is the one who protects us for the work of His ministry. Ephesians 2:10 reminds us that He is not a haphazard God, but one who is orchestrating good and delights for you and I to serve Him by accomplishing His will:

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

God may have allowed you to make addictive choices that have led to stark consequences, but His intention is for everything in your life to lead you to trust in Him and to become more like Christ. For some, these consequences lead to salvation by conversion to true Christianity.

God is love and He wants you to know that you can trust Him in all things, especially in eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.

For those of us in TAC network, we get the privilege of proclaiming the Hope of the Gospel because we call the man-made label of addiction what God calls it in His Word: sinful heart desires, idolatry, and drunkenness! When we use the language that God uses, the Bible becomes more understandable by the grace of God through the Holy Spirit. His Word brings hope.

There is a huge earnestness in us about our rare message, but we are energized to continue the work, because we believe we are one of the few, if not one of the very few voices, talking about addiction as a sin issue of the heart with the answers being found in Christ Jesus alone.

We have a loving message… the most loving message of all! The Bible is sufficient for the problem of the heart of addiction and God can be trusted. There is hope in the Gospel for your heart desires to be transformed by the Holy Spirit when you repent and agree with God about what you want your life to be about. Trust in Him today!

The Addiction Connection is Here for You!

The Addiction Connection is a network of ministries who offer hope in Jesus for those struggling with addiction of any kind. Our network of encouraging resources, ministries, and biblical programs that stretch across America and the world will always point people to truth in Jesus Christ for answers.

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[1] Scriptures verses marked CSB are from The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.