The fear of man is perhaps the major fear many are trapped with and have long been unable to deal with as they manage their relationships with others. It puts a leash and restraint on a person that one becomes incapacitated in a given circumstance to create needed change or to influence it. In extreme circumstances, it has been the difference between success and failure in a given venture or cause.

I want to look at it from two perspectives.

First. The projected fear, which grows from you towards another. This is the fear you have for another man, whether overt or covert. In the case of the former, you are aware of the consequences of going against such persons and you would rather not be in their bad books. So you restrain yourself from certain actions or words in order not to offend, even when it is apparent that they are in error.

When such fear is covert, you leave in denial about the influence of that person over your emotions and choices. You convince yourself that you live or function independently of the endorsement by the object of your fear.

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“Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things?” – Mark2:8 NIV

One major secret revealed by Jesus on how to gain insight or understanding of the things around you is by learning to focus on the Spirit within you. The Holy Spirit, that lives in you, knows and searches all things (1 Cor. 2:10).

In this instance, Jesus did not read the minds of the Pharisees to know what they were thinking. Some people try to figure out stuff on the outside by observing and reading the signs around them. Jesus didn’t do that, but searched in His Spirit to get knowledge. This will be a more accurate reading of the circumstance or persons involved.

While it may be possible for persons and situations to give prompts that create meaning, this is often times riddled with inaccuracies. These errors in judgement may lead to wrong conclusions and mistakes in choices and actions.

The fail-proof means the Father has given us to gain accurate knowledge and insight to all of life’s issues is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We must constantly filter life through His presence and be highly conscious of His activities in us. He is in us and not in the world (John 14:17). So you cannot find answers through the world because the revealer of Truth is not in it.

The Gift of the Father to us is so amazing that our constant victory in life is guaranteed, but we have to engage perpetually. You don’t try to see in the dark with your eyes do you? The scriptures say the whole world lies in darkness 1 John 5:19, so nothing observed from the outside is accurate. This is why Jesus says in John 14 that the Holy Spirit will guide us into Truth.

So if we must know anything correctly, it will only be by the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus did in the passage here and was able to arrest an ugly situation and bring God the glory.