Not too long ago I came around a corner on a quiet Wyoming highway, and there were some horses all bunched up and running. Now, I looked to see why – and there was a small dog chasing them. Now he couldn’t have weighed more than 10 pounds, but he had that whole herd of horses on the run. It was a comical sight to see all those great big horses running from one little spit of a mutt!

You know, I wonder how many of us are afraid when we don’t need to be, and running when we don’t have to – scared of our own shadows. How many of us worry ourselves into a lather? Confidence, my friends, before God and man comes with who and what you know, as illustrated.

Years ago while I was serving as a missionary, I was walking one evening to an appointment with a new partner. Now, the week before, we had met a group of wild teenagers involved in some pretty extreme behavior – you know what I mean. And – well, we sat down to teach them, and tact had never been my talent. So I managed to offend them by my bluntness. Consequently, the next week they were angry and intent on hurting us at our next appointment. So here we are in time for that next appointment, walking up the hill that evening toward their house. And we heard this loud awful music – that kind that resembles the noise of a railroad-switching yard?

My new companion pointed up the hill to this rundown house, and he said, “Man, I’m sure glad we don’t have to go there!”

With some dismay on my face realizing where the music was coming from, I said, “That’s where we’re going!” Ah, the look on his face was a Kodak moment.

We came to the door, we knocked, and the gang leader met us at the door wearing dark glasses. It’s nighttime. The look of menace and the dim candles heightened the sense of evil. Now, don’t ask me why, but we went in. The entire gang was seated around the room, all glaring at us, and all wearing dark glasses. We sat down expecting the worst.

“Okay – teach us,” the leader sneered.

I looked up at my companion, and to this day I don’t know what came over me. I should have run. But then again, maybe I do know what came over me. Did I mention to you that – that my companion that night was an Olympic-class swimmer? He stood 6 foot 6 inches tall, weighed over 250 pounds, and was all tone and muscle. I felt no fear, only anger.

I told them what I thought of their heavy-handed intimidation – when all of the sudden my big companion suddenly cut me off, and he took over on them. And they really listened when he went after them. And before long, the mood in that room mellowed. They turned off the music, and they turned on the lights, and – all of a sudden we were friends again. We never saw a conversion in those knot-heads life (lives), but they were always our friends after that.

Now, the bigger and tougher your friends, the easier it is to have confidence. That is precisely why the Lord repeatedly reminds us, “Fear … not, … I am with thee.” (Isaiah 41:10)

He called Himself our rearward, meaning “I will guard your back; I’ve got your back.” (Isaiah 52:12; Isaiah 58:8)

We will have perfect confidence before God and men when we have perfect love for Him and our neighbors. That kind of love takes time and practice, but when your conscience is clear, there is nothing to fear.