2006-07-17

When a Dong Man Fears the Lord

We all want our children to be safe, but finding assurance of safety is the problem. Men want to find confidence and self-respect, but that might be even harder to find than safety for children. These are issues for all of us, and no less for the Dong people.

Proverbs 14:26 says this: "In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge."

Most Dong fathers lack this confidence. Very few have even seen an example of confidence (without pride). Few Dong people know this confidence because so few know the fear of the Lord.

What is the fear of the Lord? It goes far beyond respect. There is one true God, he created all things, and nothing is beyond his ability. More than that, he is absolutely just and unending in love. No man can match that. No idol even begins to rank. No spirit (heavenly or demonic) is the creator, all powerful, or anything more than a servant to him.

If the Dong people lived "in the fear of the Lord," they could find a new confidence, a confidence without self-love or arrogance, but full of joy in the fulfillment of knowing the only one worth fearing: the Lord. And this confidence stretches to more than one person, but to the whole family.

Let's pray that more Dong men will hear these truths and respond to the Creator. And not only that, but let us also pray they bring their families with them, reaping the joys of relationship with their Creator, confidence for the father, love for the wife, and a refuge for the children. Let us pray for healthy, God fearing families all through the Dong areas.

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