Snapshot: The Fear of the Lord

In a vision recently, I saw a tempest, dust clouds and thunderclouds.  And the Lord quickened to me what I was seeing.

"Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire."                        Isaiah 29:6

And with that sight came the fear of the Lord.  It was literally awesome.  I realized that the Lord was gracious to impart such a feeling to me--He was gracious to help me understand what it means to fear Him, what it means to stand in awe.

Now, there is no fear within God's perfect love (John 4:18), but we need to realize that this does not exclude a healthy kind of fear of the Lord.  If we fear God--if we come before Him in submission, reverence and awe--then we will not be fearful of anything else.  We can take from the below verse a strong exhortation and understand that a biblical fear of God will drown out anything else:

"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."                             Matthew 10:28

That's a strong message, but we can look at the context and realize that it's truth is meant to make us share God more boldly among others.  It's meant to motivate us to shine from the hilltop (Matthew 5:16) and speak whatever the Holy Spirit prompts us to say.    Fear of the Lord is not meant to make us timid--it's meant to spur us on to boldness and power evangelism!  It's meant to make us know that we really only have to please just One.

"Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling..."             Philippians 2:12

Here's another strong exhortation, and it's not meant to make us fearful.  Instead, we need to have reverence and respect towards the commands God has given us.  We need to work towards obedience so that the salvation of our daily life is attained to.  (Note that our souls have already been saved--but God wants to save our works also!)  We need to reach the fullness of salvation, and this verse says that we can do it by continuing in obedience.  Now, usually it is Christ's love that should compel us.  (2 Corinthians 5:14)  And usually, it does!  But sometimes, situations get harder--more intimidating-- and we need to be motivated out of reverence and fear of God.

I think that fear of the Lord is a concept lacking in the Church today!  It doesn't seem as fun as other topics.  But we need to understand that it's a command of God that He made for our own good.  We need to understand that God is good, His law is good, and His motives are good.  And He has laid down precepts--fearing Him is one of them--that are to be fully obeyed. (Psalms 119:4)

"My flesh trembles in fear of you; I stand in awe of your laws"        Psalms 119:120

Snapshot: From Turbulence to Trust

Sometimes the Lord allows us to go through turbulent things in order to test us.  He does this while making for us an opportunity to overcome.  He does this with the intent of building our faith, and building our trust.

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”              John 16:33

In this world, we will have trouble.  We will encounter turbulent times--God will not spare us from all of them.  It's true that He is our protection, that He has set a hedge around us (Job 1:10), that He has assigned His angels to us (Psalms 91:11)--but there are times when He takes that wall down and exposes us to some troubling things.  Once again, He does this so that we can grow in the faith!  He does this to develop our trust.

"And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.  And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.  And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.  But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!"          Matthew 8:24-27

Trouble will come, and waves of turbulence will come.  The enemy's waves and breakers will try to wash over us.  But Jesus will always be with us, though He may not rebuke the storm initially.  He may wait for us to call on Him.  He waits for us to call on Him and be saved.  We can call on Him, and use His authority to calm the seas.  In the end, He will save us up out of all our troubles (Psalm 34:19), but in the meantime, there may be a trial or two to endure.

I am the Lord, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator, your King.”  This is what the Lord says—He who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters...           Isaiah 43:15-16

God never says there will not be waves.  In fact, there will be a sea of chaos, doubt, confusion, etc, that includes many waves.  But God wants us to accept this, and then accept who He is.  He is the One who makes a way through the sea, the one who paves a smooth path through the storm!  He is the One who exposes us to turbulence, so He can turn it into trust.  In Him, we can keep our peace regardless of our circumstances.  

"For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name."        Psalm 33:21