"And they [Jacob and his family] journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob."
Sometimes the church on earth is tempted to fear the unbelieving world all around us. But we tend to forget that the Lord puts the fear of God into those who do not yet even believe in Christ. This fear is a terror of the militant church, which marches supremely triumphantly across the globe (if even almost imperceptibly much of the time).
Don't be afraid of the world; instead, rejoice that your names are written in heaven (if you are a faith-filled churchman), and recognize that the world is scared to death of the collective body of Christ. Just because this does not *appear* to be so, does not fail to make it so.
[Puritan quote of the day: "God's word is fitted for all estates, callings, and conditions of mankind. . . . It gives direction for our apparel, sports, labor, gain, and giving; for our buying and selling, for our speech and silence, for our company and solitude." --William Lyford, in "The Instructed Christian"]
