A Dangerous Trust

I came across a very sad article on the internet Sunday morning. The news report read, “A hiker in Alaska’s Denali National Park photographed a grizzly bear for at least eight minutes before the bear mauled and killed him in the first fatal attack in the park's history, officials said Saturday. Investigators have recovered the camera and looked at the photographs, which show the bear grazing and not acting aggressively before the attack. The hiker was backpacking alone along the Toklat River on Friday afternoon when he came within 50 yards of the bear, far closer than the quarter-mile of separation required by park rules, officials said. "They show the bear grazing in the willows, not acting aggressive in any form or manner during that period of time," Anderson said. Prior to receiving a permit to hike in the area, all backpackers in the park receive mandatory bear awareness training that teaches them to stay at least a quarter-mile away from bears, and to slowly back away if they find themselves any closer. Investigators confirmed that the hiker had received that training.”  After reading this I asked myself the question, “What went wrong?” I think the obvious answer is the hiker acted on a dangerous trust. He trusted that in spite of the training given his close proximity to the bear was not a real threat; he trusted that the bear would not harm him and if alarmed he could easily find a way of escape. All of us take far too many risks with our lives. That’s why Paul encouraged us in 1 Thessalonians 5:22 to “Stay away from every kind of evil.” We can never ignore the warning signs God gives. Although the devil may appear harmless, he is vicious and in the words of Peter comparable to a “roaring lion who seeks to devour.” In the flesh we cannot outrun, outsmart, or defend ourselves against him. It is only by God’s grace, power and the following of biblical instructions that we can survive. Everyday our lives are at risk, so avoid at all costs entering into a dangerous trust