The Fear of the Lord vs 'earthly' fear

To have the fear of the Lord, we know, is the beginning of wisdom. But why?

First of all, what is the fear of the Lord?

I would describe it as an awe of, or being deeply impressed by, God. My earthly dad definitely helped me to understand what that is like! I loved him dearly and he was a very good man, but when you had been naughty, his icy blue stare would stop you right in your tracks! 😆 He was a generous, caring man, but any form of deception or injustice would provoke his anger. In those moments I was very glad to not be on the receiving end!!

To fear God is to have such a conviction of everything He is - His greatness, His goodness, His intolerance of sin and injustice, His loving nature - that it inspires every move you make.

Because it is based on love, and because there is no fear in love (1 John 4:18), the Fear of the Lord is the antidote for any other form of 'earthly' fear. Once we start living in that state of consciousness, of Him and of His presence, on a 24/7 basis, it brings us to a place where nothing can move us, because He is bigger than anything we can face! This is when the scripture “if God is for us who can be against us “(Romans 8:31) starts to really become a reality.

But... how do we cultivate the fear of God? The world we live in is clearly not living in awe of God. It actually seems to barely take notice of Him! And us, His children? If we had the fear of God wouldn't we be compromising a lot less...? I mean, it would have helped if He was visible, right?

That is precisely the key issue: God IS visible, but you have to choose to see Him. He isn't hiding, He is allowing you to exercise your right of choice. It is your capacity to choose that opens the door to the supernatural (to seeing and hearing God), or keeps it shut. So cultivating the Fear of God starts with a choice: you want to know Him or you don't. Easy peasy!

Once you've made the choice, there are two more things to do :

1) ask Him to make Himself known to you (He will)

2) expose yourself to Him

In practical terms: you already know how to cultivate earthly fear in your life. It suffices to watch a horror movie, crime reports or even just the news! To people who find themselves struggling with fear, anxiety and stress, my first piece of advice is: filter what you watch and listen to.

If you want to fill your spirit with the awe of God, expose yourself to His Word and learn about His character, and expose yourself to Him by spending time just talking to Him and listening to what He has to say.

Today you have the choice between living in fear or in the Fear of God. May you choose the way of wisdom!