Original Entry: December 10, 2008
McMinnville, OR
No man
will be able to stand against you. The
Lord your God, as he promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the
whole land, wherever you go. Deuteronomy
11:25
See also: Deuteronomy
28:10, Joshua 2:9, 2:24, 4:24, and 1Chronicles 14:17
Back in
the days that my future wife, Shanna, and I were just friends working together
in Campus Life, she invited me over to her parent’s house for dinner. I sat
opposite of her father who barely acknowledged me except to size me up as if to
say, “I don’t care if you are bigger than me if you hurt my daughter I will
kill you and bury you in a shallow grave.”
Needless to say I was little intimidated by his silence and angry
stares. Looking back, of course, I
completely understand.
Today’s
passage and those that accompany it hold a unique position in Scripture that I
would like to address. There should be a
certain fear, mystique if you will, that surrounds a man of God. I am not saying he should try to look scary
and mean like my father-in-law did, but when the favor of God is upon a man (Numbers 6:26-27) he carries a high
level of respect and honor. In man
circles a man on whom God’s favor rests carries an air of respect.
Have you
ever met a man that will not compromise his Christian convictions? God is seeking men who are so devoted to
Christ that nothing shakes them.
Nothing.
They do
not have to boast. They do not have to make threats. They do not have to stare
you down. They do not have to try and convince anyone. It is without question.
They are
rocks.
They are
pillars.
They are
valiant men of God.
They carry
an air of mystiques and intimidation. They are loving and approachable, but are
unshakeable.
