The Fear of the Lord…Healthy or Harmful?

In America today, we are indeed in the midst of troubling and terrifying times. In fact, there seems to be a great cloud of fear that has swept over our nation as we deal with stagnant home values and a struggling economy; ever-fluctuating stock markets and the threat of ISIS radicals bringing war and mayhem to our shores. Fear seems to have a choke hold on just about everyone… including those of us that are called Christians.

There are at least three hundred and sixty five times that the Scriptures tell us to “Fear not!” But, maybe that is easier said than done. I mean, all anyone has to do is read the headlines of the newspaper or listen to the hundreds of news reporters bombarding us with the next round of “doom and gloom”. It’s enough to make your head spin…or at least want to stick it in a deep hole; but I believe God has a better way for His children to deal with fear and to be His lights of reason in a darkly lit, fear-infested world.

President Franklin Roosevelt told our nation in another perilous time that we had nothing to fear but fear itself; but, God’s Holy word tells us in Psalm 111:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding.” Did you catch that? There is only one healthy fear…the Fear of the Lord. But what does that mean exactly? Should we quake in our boots and tremble at the mere mention of His name? Not exactly!

Now, God deserves our respect, our admiration, our spirit of awe and reverence and yes, even our fear; but, our fear should make us dependent on Him… not desperate or downcast! We should acknowledge that our sovereign God made us and that we belong to him…that nothing can come against us that He will not destroy. Fear, the kind that grips, controls and manipulates our will, has no place in the life of a Christian. The apostle Paul said it best in 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” Fear that is defeated in the life of a Christian is replaced by FAITH. In fact, it can be said that faith is fear…with legs.

Faith gets us up by doing…fear leaves us frozen and afraid. Faith moves us forward while looking up….fear makes us stand still and fixate on the problem. Fear may come knocking, but faith answers the door!

Now, I don’t know what fear may have arisen in your life. Maybe, you’ve recently lost your job; there’s bad news from the doctor or bills are piling up. Maybe, your marriage is on shaky ground or your house is heading into foreclosure. Whatever calamity has beset you, God Knows ….and if you’ve made it known to Him that you are placing your faith in Him for the solution to your situation….then half the battle to defeat fear has been won.

You’ve taken that first gigantic step in attaining the wisdom that God wants to grant you for your dilemma…you have acknowledged your dependency on our great, mighty and awesome God….and now, your fear will flee as you remember that faith believes in God in spite of what you see, hear or feel.

Remember, faith is not believing that God can do something….FAITH IS KNOWING THAT HE WILL…and in knowing, all fear is GONE!!!!!

I trust that today that you will allow God’s Holy Spirit to dispel and disperse any and all fear from your heart, body, mind and soul. Seek God’s wisdom for your situation, study His word, seek Godly counsel, pray earnestly, believe passionately and plan to do whatever God directs you to do. God already has His plan at work …He may just be waiting to see how large your faith is and how little your fear. Faith is the key to displacing our fear….then, the only fear that remains is our fear for our  Lord!

Living free from fear….trusting in His mighty hand,

WPQ

Thought for the day:

God told Noah to build an ark,
A project that caused great pain.
He stepped out in faith to obey His God
Without seeing the first drop of rain.