Insecurity Can Lead to Error (Part 1)
Understanding is a fountain of life to one who has it, but the punishment of fools is their folly. — Proverbs 16:22
For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. — 1 Corinthians 11:31
Author
Dr. Roberto Miranda
Summary: Insecurity and a hunger for approval can lead us to act impulsively to prove to others that we are acceptable, sociable, or courageous. Jehoshaphat displayed this weakness by forming ill-advised alliances with ungodly kings and taking part in disastrous campaigns that nearly cost him his life. God mercifully preserved him because of his sincere and godly heart, but his decisions revealed a flaw he needed to guard against. Past wounds and failures can leave voids that govern our choices. Therefore, we must ask God for discernment and self-awareness, seek healing through prayer, the Word, and wise counsel, and continually resist those tendencies, bringing them captive again and again to the will of God.
How often, when we believers gather socially with unbelievers, do we feel obligated to prove that we are just as sociable, cheerful, or daring as they are, or that we are not stereotypical, buttoned-up evangelicals? Through that attitude, we frequently reveal our insecurity about how we are perceived by outsiders, as well as our compulsive need for the approval of others.
Evidently, that kind of insecurity was a recurring issue in King Jehoshaphat’s psyche. That personal weakness inclined him to make risky and ultimately counterproductive decisions. On one occasion, Jehoram of Israel, a wicked king and one of King Ahab’s successors, invited Jehoshaphat to join him in a military campaign against the kingdom of Moab. Interestingly, Jehoshaphat’s response was immediate and very similar to the one he had given Ahab years earlier when Ahab invited him on the campaign against Ramoth-gilead: “I will go, for I am as you are; my people are as your people, and my horses as your horses” (2 Kings 3:7). It is obvious that there was something of the somewhat insecure man in Jehoshaphat, eager to prove his manhood and courage before others.
RESERVES OF MERCY
In both cases, Jehoshaphat’s decision to go impulsively to war with wicked men proved utterly disastrous. His underlying insecurity blinded him to the recklessness of his decisions. Serious complications arose during both campaigns, and in both cases Jehoshaphat nearly lost his life. Only God’s merciful intervention, prompted by Jehoshaphat’s sincere and godly heart, kept the king of Judah from losing his life as a result of those foolhardy decisions.
Negative experiences from the past sometimes sow the seed of insecurity within us. A father who did not affirm us during childhood, a failed marriage or financial venture, or a project that did not come to fruition as we had hoped can leave a permanent mark on us and send us limping down the road of life, with a great void in our hearts and a powerful hunger for approval governing our decisions.
We must be honest with ourselves and ask God for insight to discern those hidden flaws in our character. We must seek healing through prayer, the Word, and the sound counsel of wise people. We must also remain ever vigilant, alert to those flaws that may accompany us throughout our lives, so that we can resist those sinister tendencies whenever they seek to distort our behavior, and take them captive again and again to the will of God.