“The Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.” (Prov. 3:26)
Without a doubt, there are dangerous snares along our path of following Christ. And there are quite a few that the Lord allows in order to test us. The repeated exhortation to be vigilant is not given in vain, for there are many temptations that seek to lead us astray from the straight path.
Vigilance should not be confused with mistrust. Vigilance recognizes evil and teaches us how to deal with it, while mistrust sees evil everywhere and feels constantly threatened. Vigilance is also incompatible with a certain naivety that fails to properly assess the surrounding situation and feels emotionally secure simply because it does not even perceive the dangers that threaten it.