The Fear Of God

A Writing Meant to Guide You in Understanding Our Lives With Jesus

"Note: The Following Is The Opinion Of The Writer And Is Not Intended To Be A Replacement For The Reading And Study Of The Bible"

There are many instances in the Bible and even more on the tongues of men, about the fear of God. Why should we fear God? Is He this big horrible monster that waits at every corner to torture or destroy us? Perhaps we fear that we might disappoint God. Like every good parent, God loves us completely and even more than some parents, unconditionally. A good son (or daughter) always tries to please their parent(s). We avoid disappointing our parents because we love them and need the love we receive back from them. (Please know that this is my take on this subject and make no claim of absolute knowledge on this issue. If you or anybody else feels differently, I would love to hear their opinion.)

There are many Scriptural references on this matter, but for the sake of time and space, I will take a few of the verses try to make my case.

Here, God says to Abraham not to fear Him because He is our Shield or protector. God intercedes between us and our enemies. We may not see it all the time, but He is always there. Now God is telling us not to fear Him. This is kind of contrary to the subject of this dissertation, but I feel this statement actually proves my point. In this instance, Abraham was afraid of God and God was reassuring him that there was no reason to fear Him. God reflected that He was our protector, not our enemy.

⁹ Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."¹²He said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."

Okay, in this instance God tells Abraham that He knows he fears Him since he has followed Gods command to offer his only son as a sacrifice. (Is this a familiar story to you? Does this remind you of our Lord Christ Jesus?)

²³ Then he went up from there to Beersheba.²⁴ The LORD appeared to him the same night and said,

²⁵ So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants dug a well.

Here, God tells Isaac not to fear Him. In this instance, Isaac is being blessed by God and promised a fruitful life. He is rewarded for the sake of Abraham. Again, God is telling us, “Do not fear Him”. His love is absolute and eternal.

Is not your fear of God your confidence? What is being said here? In my humble opinion, it is telling me that with a good fear of God, I have established a relationship with God that is true and complete. This relationship is a spiritual bonanza that gives us eternal life and the treasure of hope we know as salvation.

¹⁷"We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. ¹⁸ "And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth."

With this Scripture, it seems the ones who should fear the Lord, are not. We as His children fear, because we know who He is and what He is to us. I would fear that He would abandon me, but He will not as He is faithful to His. I know He loves me and wants my love as well. He has shown me His mighty hand and has held me and comforted me with this mighty hand. He heals me when I’m sick; He comforts me when I’m down. He tells me that all will be okay and not to worry because He is in control.

My brothers, I know He comforts you as well. Because of this gift He offers to His, I know I can lean on Him when times are bad. I climb onto His mighty shoulders and ride to tomorrow. I don’t worry that I will scuff my foot or burn my hand, because He cares about my welfare and protects me from harm.

Brother Calvince, because of His care and comfort, I can celebrate the fact that I have a brother half way around the planet that loves me as I love him. I am in awe, that God put us together so that we can share this common bond. My prayers are with you and I thank God every day that He has joined us together in the good fight. This common bond is getting me through this hard time through which I am going. I know that with every praise we offer to God, we are crushing the head of the serpent.