“But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet” (Matthew 21:26, ESV).

The context of this verse is the chief priests and elders questioning Jesus about where He gets His authority. Jesus then asks them where John the Baptist got his authority. They don’t want to recognize his authority as coming from God, but they realize that the crowds believe John was a prophet of God, and so they don’t want to say otherwise publicly.

What struck me about this verse was that the fear of man kept them from responding to Jesus. They didn’t give Him an answer. How many don’t respond to Jesus because of the fear of man. I recently talked to a man who obviously really cared about animals, but he did odd handyman jobs for a living. We found out that he had had some opportunity to work with animals, but he turned it down because he was afraid people would laugh at him.

God had put something in him, and he listened to the fear of man instead. Has God ever prompted you to speak to someone, or pray for someone, and instead you turned and walked away because you were afraid of man in that moment, more than you feared the Lord? Don’t let it happen again. Hold in your mind the two choices. You can be like the cowardly, conniving leaders or you could be like the bold Peter and Paul.

When the fear of man is a temptation, it’s just one more chance to keep our eyes on Jesus instead of looking at our circumstances. He’s the way through. Letting the fear of man change your path is giving power over to your fear: taking it away from God. If fear is directing your steps, then you are making it your god in that moment. May the Holy Spirit be the only One who can direct our path and guide our decisions.