Prov. 14:26-27--"In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge. The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death."
I do not fully understand the fear of the LORD as it is written about in Scripture. I know many people refer to it as highest respect for God not actual fear. In the notes in my Bible, it refers to it as "reverential trust" and "hatred of evil". I certainly see how it would include all of those, but also more.
I remember being in sixth grade and having a somewhat unusual friendship develop. The school we attended had a bad reputation, not known to be a very safe place. I rarely ever spoke to anyone, but somehow there was a girl named Harriet in my class who took a liking to me. She was huge. She had to have been at least a foot taller than anyone else. No one bothered Harriet. She called me "lil' wan" and she stayed near me and let it be known that no one should dare mess with me. I don't know why she liked me so, but I was thankful for the protection. I didn't really fear Harriet myself, but if I wasn't on her side I would have. She was tough, I was not. Anyone I would have feared was smaller than her so being under her protection, I feared no one.
I guess that's how I see the fear of the LORD. He is certainly worthy to be feared. He is the most powerful. He controls all things. I would not want to be opposed to Him. Anything I would tend to fear is smaller than Him and under His control. If I'm on His side, those things suddenly lose their power to instill fear because I'm under the protection of the One who has power over them. He alone is worthy to be feared. If all my fear is wrapped up in Him, I have no reason to fear anything else. Only He offers me promise and hope.
The closer I get to Him, the larger He looms before me, and the more I realize just how little I actually understand and just how amazing His grace is that He would count me as His.
Proverbs 1:7--"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge..."
hey Angel~ I've been reading through Deutoronomy this past week and as I came to chapter 31, the words, "Be strong and courageous" stood out over and over again. Moses tells the children of Israel this in verse 6, he then tells Joshua in verse 7, and finally the Lord Himself tells Joshua these words in verse 23. And as Moses tells Joshua in verse 8, "It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be before you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." I'm so thankful He showed me once again that He is in control and I have nothing to fear...except Him.
ReplyDelete