Fear is a big word in our age. We see on the news so much going on that makes us fearful, fearful of our neighbors, of losing our jobs, being able to pay bills and the list goes on.
Many Christians say that ‘Fear of the Lord’ means a reverential fear. I’m sure the Israelites in Moses’ day wouldn’t say that, as they heard God speaking from the mountaintop. I’m sure they were quite afraid of Him, so much so that they were quick to agree to His covenant with them. In Exodus 20:19 we see them saying, “You speak with us and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” They were speaking to Moses for him to speak and not God, they had genuine fear. Then, to further this, the Lord had Moses say to the people in Exodus 20:22, “You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.” So this fear was more than a reverence for God, it was real fear that they could die if they heard God speaking.
There is another type of fear; that of torment. For 1 John 4:18 says that perfect love casts out all fear as fear has to do with torment and that if we have fear, we are not mature in our walk. Indeed, the only One we are to fear is the one who after killing the body can cast us to hell, as Jesus has said-Matthew 10:28, “Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” We should love Jesus all the more, for not only did He take on our sins and the wrath of God, He made it so we could love God and not fear Him as they did in Moses’ time.
So this fear, as we now call it reverential fear or piety, is not so much terrible fear, but awesome fear, that of God doing what He says and being so kind and loving toward us.
We are told many times not to fear, but this is in the world setting. In Joshua 1:9, God tells Joshua “Do not be afraid nor be dismayed, for the Lord is with you wherever you go.” In John 16:33, Jesus says to be of good cheer for He has overcome the world. So, here we see that because He overcame sin and temptation, we can be assured that when we place our trust in Him, we overcome as well.
In my own life I have dealt with some fears as well. The most recent was in 2024, April, before getting help. Everyone in my building was being kicked out because the rental agency wanted to renovate and raise rent. I had nowhere I could go, nothing as a back-up plan. One thing I knew was that I needed help with my alcohol use. I became aware of the Rescue Mission and I emailed the intake director and I was able to get in.
Sometimes the biggest fear we have is a fear of the unknown, as we are not certain of what will happpen. This is a fear only if we do not have faith in the Lord that He will get us through. So, then, what do we do about this? We pray and give it unto the Lord and not dwell on it and let Him make His plans come together.
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