what should we fear

when i was young, i had normal childhood fears of things like snakes, heights, and even falling off of a bike. as i grew, i learned that men are supposed to be strong and tough and i had to overcome childish fears. just when it seemed i had conquered those fears, i quickly realized there are many more significant issues with which to be concerned in the real world. where would i attend college? would i be able to play college sports? would i be good enough to stay? Who would i date? as i get older, i feel like i’m faced over and over again with decisions that will define my life on earth. add on top of that the fact that we live in a fallen world where we are certain to face unforeseen challenges and adversity throughout our lives, and the world begins to seem like a very scary place with a lot of things to fear.

as Christians, we are called to fear just one thing- God. as the scottish evangelist oswald chambers said, 'the remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.'

the type of fear that i’m talking about now is very different from the type of fear that we experience when faced with challenges in this life. this type of fear is more similar to an all-encompassing reverence. i compare fearing God to the way i felt about my earthly father when i was a boy. when i was young, he seemed invincible and i knew he was there to protect me. i wanted to make him proud, and i knew that he had the power to punish me if needed. he just seemed so powerful and superior to me in a way that i couldn’t really fathom. that same exact feeling multiplied by several orders of magnitude is what it means to truly fear God. 1 Chronicles 29:11 says, 'Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in Heaven and earth is Yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; You are exalted as head over all.' if you were raised in the church, you’ve likely read Bible verses similar to this one or sung hymns with a similar message thousands of times. take a second to deeply consider what this verse is saying. Our God is God over everything! He’s not just someone you think about for an hour at church on Sunday's or for ten minutes in the morning when you have your quiet time. He surrounds you in everything that you do- the air that you breathe is from God, your family is from God, everything in this life is God’s! if we know that our Heavenly Father has dominion over everything we could ever face in this life, does it make any sense to be afraid of the things we worry about in this life? Isaiah 41:10 says 'Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.'

this doesn’t mean that fearing God means that we will never face difficult situations during this life. in Matthew 5:45 Jesus says that our Heavenly Father, 'sends rain on the just and the unjust.' what fearing God does mean is that regardless of the challenges that we may face or the things that scare us in this life, we can know who’s Hand is guiding our lives. Romans 8:28 says, 'And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.'

when we fear the One who holds tomorrow, we know we can face tomorrow without fear. 

-n0tbyben