fear of the Lord

I was reading Proverbs in the last couple of weeks and I've been spending a lot of time thinking aout what it means when it is talking about "fearing the Lord". That seems like such a strange concept to me. But, it comes up over and over again. So, if you choose to read this blog, you will have to put up with me trying to figure it out as I go. Tonight this is really a way to try to make sense of my thoughts and I type.

All of these verses have something to say about it (I think this list is comprehensive, but I could have missed a few verses):

• "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." Proverbs 1:7
• "My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands withing you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God." Proverbs 2:1-5
• "To fear the Lord is to hate evil . . ." Proverbs 8:13
• "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Proverbs 9:10
• "The fear of the Lord adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short." Proverbs 10:27
• "He whose walk is upright fears the Lord . . ." Proverbs 14:2
• "A wise man fears the Lord and shuns evil . . ." Proverbs 14:16
• "He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress . . ." Proverbs 14:26
• "The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death." Proverbs 14:27
• "The fear of the Lord teaches a man wisdom . . ." Proverbs 15:33
• "The fear of the Lord leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble." Proverbs 19:23
• "Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honour and life." Proverbs 22:4
• ". . . but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord." Proverbs 23:17
• "Blessed in the man who always fears the Lord, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble." Proverbs 28:14

After reading about fearing the Lord so much I really wanted to understand what it meant. What does it mean to fear the Lord? What does this look like?

I figured I would start with looking up what the word "fear" meant in this context. According to my Bible Dictionary, fear, in this context, means "profound reverence and awe toward God." Great! I still don't get it . . . I don't use reverence or awe in my daily life, so now I need to look up what those words mean:
awe - profound and reverent dread of the supernatural; respectful fear inspired by authority
revere - to show honour and devotion to; worship; adore
reverence - honour and respect mixed with love
OK, sort of helpful, but this is still a concept I'm trying to figure out.

As far as I understand so far, fearing God means that we have a respect for Him because of His power and authority. And that we show Him this respect through our worship of Him. I guess this makes sense (and to tie this in to all the verses from Proverbs, as true wisdom comes from God and we would need to be willing to give God the glory, honour, and respect that He is due in order to gain His wisdom.

This isn't an idea that is spoken about only in Proverbs either. There are other Scriptures that say the same thing as well.

• "Fear the Lord your God, serve him only . . ." Deuteronomy 6:13
• "What does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul." Deuteronomy 10:12
• "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding." Psalm 111:10

So, these verses seem to be saying the same thing. That wisdom comes from God, and in order to gain God's wisdom we must fear - honour and respect - God.

I like the way the note in my study Bible put it:
"The only way to become truly wise is to fear (revere) God. . . . Too often people want to skip this step, thinking they can become wise by life expereince and academic knowledge alone. But if we do no acknowledge God as the source of wisdom, then our foundation for making wise decisions is shaky, and we are prone to mistakes and foolish choices." (NIV Life Application Study Bible)

The one verse that I came acros that made me smile and shake my head all at the same time is 2 Corinthians 5:11, which says:
"Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord . . ."
Those are Paul's words and as I read them I was thinking "No I don't, I don't know what it means." In this case I also liked the note in my study Bible. It was the most helpful to me in understanding what it means to fear the Lord:
"To 'fear the Lord'does not mean that believers become paralyzed. On the contrary, knowing God's perfection and that He will judge everyone's actions should spur Christians to good deeds, to what pleases our God. The fear of the Lord also frees believers from all of life's anxieties and worries. Knowing that God is 'for us' can keep believers unafraid of earthly powers - people, governments, or the forces of nature. God takes care of his own. The fear of God gives us uncommon courage in the face of life's troubles." (NIV Life Application Study Bible)

So, as I sit here now I realize that I have probably repeated myself multiple times as I've tried to figure this out. But that's probably how long it took me to get it through my head. (Again my apologies if this was a bit ramlbing, but I warned you at the beginning.)

"be still and know that I am God"

I've been thinking a lot lately about what exactly it means when we are to be still before God. What exactly does it look like? How do I do that?

"Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10

Being still is not something that I am good at. I always want to be doing something. But Go dhas been chalenging my lately with this. While all activity isn't wrong, there are times when I need to stop and just be in God's presence. The constant busy-ness and endless noise of our society can sometimes drown out this simple call to be still – to stop and just meditate on who God is and worship Him.

Moses uses similar words when he speaks to the Israelites in Exodus 14. He is speaking to a nation that has just fled from slavery in Egypt and is now stuck in a seemingly impossible situation – they have Pharaoh’s army approaching on one side and the Red Sea on the other. In fear they cry to Moses asking why he brought them into the desert to die when they could have just as easily died in Egypt as slaves. Moses says this in response to them in verses 13-14:

“Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” (emphasis mine)

In the midst of their fear and panic, Moses tells them to “be still, because God will fight for them.” It seems almost to be a strange command in the situation that they are in. But, they are being called to stop trying on their own and allow God – to concentrate on just being in the presence of God as He fights the battle for them, rather than scramble and panic and try to do it themselves.

As I was thinking about these two Scripture passages, which seem at first glance to be quite different, I started to notice a similarity between them. They both talk about a need to be still before God. When we learn to be still before God in our everyday life, it becomes easier to be still before God and trust Him to act when trouble comes our way.

I know when I’m in a situation where I appear to be stuck, much like the Israelites were in Exodus 14, I often react as they did – with fear and panic and even anger. But, I have also heard God say those same words to me that Moses said to Israel: “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” That’s so counter-intuitive in those situations! I don’t want to be still! And so I often make things worse by trying to win the battle on my own. But, I also know that the few times (fewer than I would like there to be) I’ve actually listened when I heard those words and allowed God to fight for me things have turned out for the better in the end.

"Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10

My prayer today is that we would better understand what this means and that we would learn to take time to be still before God, rather than this constant activity that we have come to see as normal.


(Disclaimer: For those who read my posts on the Alive Minstries webpage http://www.alivebc.com/, much of this post is the same as what I posted there recently.)

God's will

On Monday night at Alive, Mike started a series of messages on how to know God's will for your life. What he said on Monday was really nothing new to me, but it was good to hear and be reminded of it all again.

Then at Life Group (Bible study, caregroup, home group, whatever you want to call it) on Wednesday we were talking about it more and I got to thinking. I was struck by a really cool thought, and that is, I know that for right now, I am doing God's will for my life. I know that He has called me to do what I am doing. I thought that was pretty cool.

I'm not doing exactly what I thought I would be doing a few years ago. When I began my business degree, my intention was to finish it and then go on to a professional accounting program and become a tax accountant (I know, a little wierd). But, upon finishing my degree I just wasn't finding work in the right places to get started on that. After a bit of a detour with just doing some basic bookkeeping for a repair shop, God finally got me to where I now know He wanted me from the beginning . . . working in sort of a behind-the-scenes way in ministry. Yes, I sit at a desk and deal with numbers all day, but no ministry of any size happens without people who keep track of the money and all that kind of stuff. I know that, at least for now, this is where God wants me!

This doesn't mean I don't have dreams of other things, that I also feel are from God. Some of you have probably heard me talk about some of them, the main one being my desire to see the average church person have the skills to take things that a preacher or teacher says and go back to their Bible and check the accuracy of those things for themselves. This is something I have a huge passion for and it drives to do what I can now. I have no idea if some time in the future I will be called to do this for my work. Right now I know it's something I am called to do in my non-work time.

I won't say that figuring out God's will for my life has been easy. It hasn't. But, I do know that it is worth seeking out what it is, because when you figure out what it is, there is nothing that can compare to it!