Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the LORD means safety. Prov. 29:25 (NLT)
We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers. Num. 13:33 (NLT)
God sits above the circle of the earth. The people below seem like grasshoppers to him! He spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them. Isa. 40:22 (NLT)
Heavenly Father, at times people gain more influence, power, and control over our hearts than they deserve. As Moses wrote, some people can make us feel like grasshoppers in the presence of giants. When this happens, all kinds of broken relational styles result.
When people seem bigger than you, they impact how we see ourselves and spend our days; and how we sleep, eat, and stress. Through the truth and grace of the gospel, help us take back the power we’ve given anybody to shape, shame, or shut us down. No one deserves that much sway.
If we’re going to feel “grasshopper-sized” anywhere in life, it should only be before you; for you are God, and people are not. The good news is, in Christ, we are your beloved children—safe, not threatened; cared for, not used; held, not harmed.
Indeed, Father, free us from looking to anybody to fill us up, “complete us,” or functionally to replace You. Whether it’s a spouse or children, parents or friends, employer or employees—mere men are worthless idols, wannabe gods, and salvation-less saviors.
And free us from patterns of unforgiveness, resentment, and bitterness. When fear of man morphs into wishing others harm, dreaming of their demise, or calling down fire, they win; we lose. Bitterness defiles, envy rots, and revenge belongs to you.
Father, you’ve placed a Jesus-shaped void in our hearts only Jesus can fill. Keep us restless until we rest in him; peace-less, until he is our peace; and longing, until he is our life. So very Amen we pray, in his glorious and grace-full name.
