When we allow ourselves to be intimidated by other people, we are only going to be able to go so far before we'll be jerked back by that snare. If you study the word snare, it refers to putting a snare, chain, or leash on a dog. That dog can only venture so far before it is jerked back by the tether around its neck. The progress of mobility is completely hindered.
It's the same with us. We can't worry about what other people are going to think about us. We must strive to do our best to please and be a blessing to people, but we cannot allow ourselves to become people-pleasers rather than God-pleasers. That is a dangerous trap.
Hindering God's Plan
We must always give God first place. We can do things for people to help them out or to just make them happy, but if we do those things to keep them from becoming angry with us or to maintain their friendship, our motivation is entirely wrong. A relationship based on taking advantage of another person's willingness to be used is not a relationship worth maintaining.
Fear of man, fear of what people think about us, and fear of not being accepted hinder God's plan for our lives. The devil knows that and works hard to keep us in bondage to that fear.
One way to eliminate intimidation from your life is to see it for what it is—a manipulative lie of the enemy—then confront it, and by faith, allow the Holy Spirit to walk you through it.
Seeing Yourself Changed
You will experience victory as you commit to spending time in the Word, searching out scriptures that edify and encourage you, and speaking boldly what God's Word says about you. Start seeing yourself changed!
If you see yourself as a grasshopper, you'll remain a grasshopper. But if God sees a giant when He looks at you, you need to see yourself as a giant—well able to overcome the Goliaths of fear, intimidation, rejection, and insecurity that come against you.
Your day of freedom from man-pleasing has come!
Ask yourself, as the apostle Paul did in Galatians 1:10, "...do I now persuade men, or God, or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ."
Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications