Confidence on a Scary Night (Proverbs 3:25–26)
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Proverbs 3:25-26
Do not be afraid of sudden terror
or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes,
26 for the Lord will be your confidence
and will keep your foot from being caught.
What an encouraging few verses to read on this Halloween. A day synonymous with dressing up and getting candy and having fun — for sure — but also one where we see the scare, the terror (to use this verse’s language).
Halloween has become a lot more like that over time. A day where what is dark and wicked is celebrated and encouraged. Now that’s not me saying everyone treats it that way, but many do.
But the Bible has a Word for terror here in these verses: Do not be afraid.
Do not be afraid of sudden terror
or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes,
26 for the Lord will be your confidence
and will keep your foot from being caught.
Now, when Proverbs says, “Do not be afraid of sudden terror,” it isn’t denying that terror exists. It’s saying that fear doesn’t have to define you — because your confidence isn’t in circumstances, but in the Lord Himself.
That’s actually quite radical. Our culture’s way of dealing with fear is either to trivialize it — turn it into a joke, a costume, a thrill — or to try to master it through control. We tell ourselves: if I just plan well enough, save enough, stay healthy enough, I won’t have to be afraid.
But then the sudden thing comes — the diagnosis, the job loss, the betrayal, the unexpected news — and we realize that control was an illusion all along. That’s the “sudden terror” Proverbs is talking about. It’s the moment when we’re reminded that we are not in charge.
Yet for the one who knows the Lord, that realization doesn’t have to undo us.
Because our confidence is not in the illusion of control but in the reality of a God who holds us when everything else gives way.
Think of Noah in the flood, or Lot leaving Sodom — but think even more of Jesus asleep in the storm. He faced terror, and yet He wasn’t terrified. Why? Because He knew the Father’s hand was underneath it all.
And in the gospel, that same hand is underneath you. The cross tells us that God’s love goes all the way into the storm — even into death itself — and comes out the other side. So we can say, even on a night like Halloween: “I will not fear sudden terror… for the Lord will be my confidence.”
So is He? Is He your confidence?
Have you built your life on Jesus Christ the solid rock?
I’ll tell you a scary thought this Halloween. Building your life on anything, and I mean ANYTHING, else.
Let’s pray.
