A Neglected Virtue
There is a secret in Proverbs 31:30 to become admirable.
“A woman who fears the Lord,
She shall be praised.”
It is an open secret not only for women but for men too. Everybody wants to be popular and anyone loves praises. There is a desire lurking in our hearts to appear in the TV, speak from a podium or be surrounded by fans. The simple secret is the Fear of God.
Fear of God, being nevertheless the criterion for Christian living, is an unpopular endowment of the Holy Spirit as against speaking in tongues or prophesying. In times when people jostle for performing miracles, who cares for the fear of God? Man may delight in the spectacular gifts like healing but God’s delight is in something else. “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,... the Spirit of the knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. His delight is in the fear of the Lord” (Isa 11:2,3). The virtue that God delights in must be the most covetable of all.
The fear of God is dwindling among Christians the world over. I have seen godly unbelievers and the most ungodly believers.
When someone lies and his lie is disclosed and he is confronted, he nonchalantly replies, “Oh, I didn’t think it was such a great sin.” We go to a conference and while claiming travel the clerk pays much more than the actual expenses we claimed, saying, “Others from your place have claimed so much!” A pastor batters his wife at home and climbs the pulpit to preach his fetid sermon. Someone suggests, “Why do you painstakingly maintain accounts in your organisation? Why can’t you push some green notes into the official’s pockets as they do in... ministries?” Shams and swindles are ubiquitous. Flirting and coyness creep under our carpets. A dedicated Romeo-Juliet couple, regular in evangelistic outreach, is not a couple indeed. She is somebody’s wife and he is somebody’s husband. They claim God told them to leave their spouses and live together.
Today it is possible for a believer to do anything and hide behind the persona of respectability. Their spiritual feats give them a halo effect. Permissiveness is the unwritten law in today’s religion. One who speaks against these is dubbed an eccentric and made the butt of cruel jokes.
Fearlessness for God has become a problem that no one wants to look in the eye. In fact our inner alarm bells have stopped ringing. We have lost our ability to discern the difference between right and wrong.
What is Fear of God?
Firstly, fear of God is not just believing Him and trembling in His presence. Even the devils do that (Js 2:19). How are we different from demons if we too fear God like them? How do we fear God?
Fear of God is to fear His Word and obey His commandments. This is what distinguished the people of Israel from their godless neighbours who could kill a man and take his wife. About the city of Gerar, Abraham said, “I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife” (Gen 20:11). But Abraham proved that he feared God by not withholding his only beloved son in obedience to God’s voice. God Himself testified, “Now I know that you fear God” (Gen 22:12).
“He who despises the Word will be destroyed, but he who fears the commandment will be rewarded” (Prov 13:13). Cultivating the fear of God comes by a deep commitment to learn His Word and a dedication to keep it. God said, “Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth” (Dt 4:10).
Fear should drive us to obey God. The lazy servant in the Parable of Talents replied the master, “I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours” (Mt 25:25). His fear of his master did not lead him to obedience. One day a boy of thirteen was listening to me preach on the Return of Christ. The next day I asked him if he understood. He said, “Yes.” Then I asked him what he did about it. He said that he was so terribly scared that he pulled his blanket over his head and slept off ! Aren’t we so childish sometimes? Instead of letting the fear guide us in the path of obedience we dull our conscience till the fear passes off. Pangs of conscience that David and Paul talk about are past history to us.
Noah’s reaction to God’s voice was quite different. “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared the ark for the saving of his household” (Heb 11:7). Do we move to action when the fear of God grips us?
In Revelation 21:8 we read, “The cowardly shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone.” Who are these cowards? These are the cowards who fear God yet are fearful of the cost and consequences of obeying Him. Oh, for a generation with backbone!
Jonah said, “I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land” (Jon 1:9). Yet he wilfully disobeyed Him. What a contradiction! Those who rebelliously disobey God don’t have the foggiest idea about the consequences. They are playing with God and it is a deadly game.
When the king of Assyria settled non-Israelites in Samaria, they did not fear the Lord. So the Lord sent lions which killed some of them. Then the king commanded for a Jewish priest to e brought there to teach the people how they should fear the Lord. The result: “They feared the Lord, yet served their own gods” (2 Ki 17:33). This is a mirror which reflects our own image. We fear God and go to church no doubt — so that the lions of life will not kill us. But we continue to serve mammon. It is a shameful double life bouncing back and forth between gospel meetings and sizzling cine shows. Our fear has not driven us to absolute obedience and capitulation. Believers who do not fear God are constantly looking for loopholes in the Bible. They turn away from what they know is best to what they know is second best.
Secondly, fear of God is chasing evil out of our lives (Prov 8:13). Job feared God and shunned evil. He teaches, “The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding” (Job 28:28). He practiced what he preached. Oh, for such model men and women, who will be examples instead of excuses! Though Job suffered for his commitment to God, in the end not only he, his daughters also became popular.
It is not enough to call “Immanuel” in times of terror. Remember “Immanuel” when you indulge in evil. A true Christian is one who behaves himself a Christian when no one is watching him. Call evil by its name and it is easy to eschew it.
Thirdly, fear of God is doing good. It is not enough to hate evil. We must be plus people if we fear God. “You shall not curse the blind, but shall fear your God;... you shall not do injustice... not be partial... not go about as a talebearer... not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neigbhour, and not bear sin because of him... vengeance... grudge... you shall rise before the grayheaded and honour the presence of an old man and fear your God” (Lev 19:14-18,32). These are some day-to-day practical expressions of godly fear. Have we taught our children and youth to rise up before the old? We did it when we were young. It hurts to see a godly culture giving way to a retarded culture.
Fourthly, fear of God is to scramble for vantage points when we tumble. It is a trembling for our old sin without becoming callous. Each sin, each failure, must add fear to fear in our hearts. “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. Happy is the man who is always reverent (fearful), but he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity” (Prov 28:13,14).
Paul, writing to Corinthians about sin, repentance and godly sorrow, appreciates what fear it produced in them (2 Cor 7:11). It is this fear that will help us to analyse the circumstances leading to our failure and avoid it like poison. Occasionally somebody says, “I am sorry, I told you such and such a thing. My conscience bothers me. The truth is...” My spirit shoots up like a fountain. “It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare,” said Mark Twain. Yes, to err is human and to accept it is super-human!
Examples for the fear of God
Let us see some examples of men and women who feared God.
First come the Hebrew midwives. They defied the king’s order to kill the male children, putting their lives in danger for they “feared God” (Ex 1:17). Fearing God at all times is not easy, especially on the face of life-threatening forces. But God’s Spirit will enable us to manifest this virtue when we are bent on doing what is right. “Therefore God dealt well with the midwives... because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them.” What an easy and straight- forward way of owning houses with midwives’ salaries!
Obadiah feared the Lord greatly from his youth (1 Ki 18:3,12). He served the evil king Ahab but his heart was with the Lord. He risked his neck when he hid 100 prophets against the fury of Jezebel and even fed them.
Cornelius feared God with all his household (Acts 10:2). How wonderful! He fed the fear of God to each one in his family and trained them to fear God in all aspects of life. Would God that every husband is a Cornelius! Besides pumping into little heads science, economics, history and mathematics, if we can instil in them the fear of God, the Spirit will not hesitate to descend on our family and friends. This fear of God made Cornelius a man of “good reputation among all” (Acts 10:22).
We can follow these godly examples especially when a wave of persecution is breaking on us. It is time to remind ourselves of the words of Jesus: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Well, that is good reason to fear God. Fear Him because He is God.
Blessings of the Fear of God
Innumerable are the blessings when our heart floats in the sea of the fear of God.
1. It is good for us.
We are not doing God some favour by fearing Him. It is ultimately for our own good. Moses motivated God’s people to obedience saying, “The Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive” (Dt 6:24). God’s Word is a safe parameter for our life. “What does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God... for your good?” (Dt 10:12,13).
2. God listens to our prayer.
“He will fulfil the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and save them” (Psa 145:19).
3. God rewards us with wisdom.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments” (Psa 111:10).
4. It is health to our bodies.
“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones” (Prov 3:7,8). In your everyday moral choices don’t argue with yourself. Let the fear of God dominate your thinking and guide your decision. For every problem, no matter how daunting, you can find a solution if you fear God. That will be health to your body and mind.
5. It qualifies us for leadership.
“You shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God... to be rulers” (Ex 18:21).
6. It makes us close confidants of God.
Though we seem to flounder at times God will never let us miss His perfect will, never go off tangent, if we fear Him.
“Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. He himself shall dwell in prosperity, and his descendants shall inherit the earth. The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him” (Psa 25:12-14). Think of the great God whispering into our ears to the jealousy of others!
7. We will not lack anything.
“Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints. There is no lack to those who fear Him” (Psa 34:9). Note that saints are urged to fear God. Beware, fearless saints!
We are destined to be blessed in every way. “Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways ... Behold thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord...” (Psa 128).
8. We will enjoy angelic protection.
“The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them” (Psa 34:7).
9. We will have a banner and a heritage to our credit.
“You have given a banner to those who fear You, that it may be displayed because of the truth” (Psa 60:4). “You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your Name” (Psa 61:5).
10. We don’t need to fear anyone or anything.
Those who don’t fear God will fear other gods, magic, witchcraft, people, Second Coming, judgment, hell, etc. There are so many “fear nots” in the Bible. They are for those who fear God. Those who fear God can be bold as lions ( Dan 10:9,12,19; Psa 46:1-3; 91:5).
Fear of God is a choice.
Fear of God is an endowment of the Holy Spirit just like His any other endowment. When the Spirit of God resides in us we possess this blessing too. But the practical application of the fear of God to any situation is our choice. Solomon was filled with the spirit of wisdom but at times he failed to use it and that was the dead fly in his ointment. Unless at every situation in life we learn to take bold decisions with the fear of God, soon we will lose track. We must make a willful choice to fear God and obey Him. For this we need power over ourselves. We should aspire for that power which we exercise over ourselves. We fail here, we fail everywhere.
The right kind of fear
Our God is not a terrorizing deity. He is our “Father.” We don’t fear Him like the people of old did for fear of being struck dead by an angry God but we cry with a reverential love, “Abba, Father!” (Rom 8:15). “God has not given us a spirit of fear but of love” (2 Tim 1:7). It is a delightful fear (Psa 112:1). It is rejoicing with trembling (Psa 2:11).
What shall we do?
If you have strayed from the highway, remember there’s a comeback road. Take the direction the fear of God points to. If no one comes with you, go ahead alone. Stand for what you believe is the truth.
Don’t lose your sense of shock on seeing evil in God’s Kingdom. We have let evil walk upright through Christendom. Do not hesitate to confront believers who do not fear God. When we ignore “ little things” in others, we tell them, “What you are doing is ok.” The Bible has many examples of holy confrontation. Nathan pointed his finger at David; Peter cared the less for the offering of Ananias and Sapphira; Samuel confronted the emboldened Saul and condemned his rebellion. There are good men everywhere who can confront their fellow believers. I only wish they had louder voices. The Kingdom of God needs more people who will stand up and say, “ That’s wrong.” Delay in blowing the whistle can cause irrepairable damage to the Kingdom.
Teach your little flock faithfully to fear God. Do your tiny part in the big universe and you can make a dent. “The world is moved not only by mighty heroes but also by the aggregate of tiny pushes of each honest worker,” said Helen Keller.
When the curtain will be drawn on our earthly existence God will demarkate those who fear Him and those who do not. Malachi 3:16- 4:3 is the tale of two, the one who did not fear God and the one who did fear Him. People cry: What is the use of fearing God? It is the wicked who prosper. “Those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them. A book of rememberance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord. They shall be His on the day that He makes them His jewels. The Sun of Righteousness shall arise for them with healing in His wings. And they shall trample the wicked.” Those who are seemingly popular today will drown in embarassment and shame on that day. In the flick of an eyelash those who walked in the fear of God will be lifted up and they shall be the most popular ones, being adorned with the admirable virtue of all!
“Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him” (Eccl 8:12).
Dr. Lilian Stanley
13 Church Colony
Vellore 632006, India
+91 9843511943
lilianstanley@gmail.com
Blessing Youth Mission
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A Neglected Virtue
There is a secret in Proverbs 31:30 to become admirable.
“A woman who fears the Lord,
She shall be praised.”
It is an open secret not only for women but for men too. Everybody wants to be popular and anyone loves praises. There is a desire lurking in our hearts to appear in the TV, speak from a podium or be surrounded by fans. The simple secret is the Fear of God.
Fear of God, being nevertheless the criterion for Christian living, is an unpopular endowment of the Holy Spirit as against speaking in tongues or prophesying. In times when people jostle for performing miracles, who cares for the fear of God? Man may delight in the spectacular gifts like healing but God’s delight is in something else. “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,... the Spirit of the knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. His delight is in the fear of the Lord” (Isa 11:2,3). The virtue that God delights in must be the most covetable of all.
The fear of God is dwindling among Christians the world over. I have seen godly unbelievers and the most ungodly believers.
When someone lies and his lie is disclosed and he is confronted, he nonchalantly replies, “Oh, I didn’t think it was such a great sin.” We go to a conference and while claiming travel the clerk pays much more than the actual expenses we claimed, saying, “Others from your place have claimed so much!” A pastor batters his wife at home and climbs the pulpit to preach his fetid sermon. Someone suggests, “Why do you painstakingly maintain accounts in your organisation? Why can’t you push some green notes into the official’s pockets as they do in... ministries?” Shams and swindles are ubiquitous. Flirting and coyness creep under our carpets. A dedicated Romeo-Juliet couple, regular in evangelistic outreach, is not a couple indeed. She is somebody’s wife and he is somebody’s husband. They claim God told them to leave their spouses and live together.
Today it is possible for a believer to do anything and hide behind the persona of respectability. Their spiritual feats give them a halo effect. Permissiveness is the unwritten law in today’s religion. One who speaks against these is dubbed an eccentric and made the butt of cruel jokes.
Fearlessness for God has become a problem that no one wants to look in the eye. In fact our inner alarm bells have stopped ringing. We have lost our ability to discern the difference between right and wrong.
What is Fear of God?
Firstly, fear of God is not just believing Him and trembling in His presence. Even the devils do that (Js 2:19). How are we different from demons if we too fear God like them? How do we fear God?
Fear of God is to fear His Word and obey His commandments. This is what distinguished the people of Israel from their godless neighbours who could kill a man and take his wife. About the city of Gerar, Abraham said, “I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife” (Gen 20:11). But Abraham proved that he feared God by not withholding his only beloved son in obedience to God’s voice. God Himself testified, “Now I know that you fear God” (Gen 22:12).
“He who despises the Word will be destroyed, but he who fears the commandment will be rewarded” (Prov 13:13). Cultivating the fear of God comes by a deep commitment to learn His Word and a dedication to keep it. God said, “Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth” (Dt 4:10).
Fear should drive us to obey God. The lazy servant in the Parable of Talents replied the master, “I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours” (Mt 25:25). His fear of his master did not lead him to obedience. One day a boy of thirteen was listening to me preach on the Return of Christ. The next day I asked him if he understood. He said, “Yes.” Then I asked him what he did about it. He said that he was so terribly scared that he pulled his blanket over his head and slept off ! Aren’t we so childish sometimes? Instead of letting the fear guide us in the path of obedience we dull our conscience till the fear passes off. Pangs of conscience that David and Paul talk about are past history to us.
Noah’s reaction to God’s voice was quite different. “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared the ark for the saving of his household” (Heb 11:7). Do we move to action when the fear of God grips us?
In Revelation 21:8 we read, “The cowardly shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone.” Who are these cowards? These are the cowards who fear God yet are fearful of the cost and consequences of obeying Him. Oh, for a generation with backbone!
Jonah said, “I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land” (Jon 1:9). Yet he wilfully disobeyed Him. What a contradiction! Those who rebelliously disobey God don’t have the foggiest idea about the consequences. They are playing with God and it is a deadly game.
When the king of Assyria settled non-Israelites in Samaria, they did not fear the Lord. So the Lord sent lions which killed some of them. Then the king commanded for a Jewish priest to e brought there to teach the people how they should fear the Lord. The result: “They feared the Lord, yet served their own gods” (2 Ki 17:33). This is a mirror which reflects our own image. We fear God and go to church no doubt — so that the lions of life will not kill us. But we continue to serve mammon. It is a shameful double life bouncing back and forth between gospel meetings and sizzling cine shows. Our fear has not driven us to absolute obedience and capitulation. Believers who do not fear God are constantly looking for loopholes in the Bible. They turn away from what they know is best to what they know is second best.
Secondly, fear of God is chasing evil out of our lives (Prov 8:13). Job feared God and shunned evil. He teaches, “The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding” (Job 28:28). He practiced what he preached. Oh, for such model men and women, who will be examples instead of excuses! Though Job suffered for his commitment to God, in the end not only he, his daughters also became popular.
It is not enough to call “Immanuel” in times of terror. Remember “Immanuel” when you indulge in evil. A true Christian is one who behaves himself a Christian when no one is watching him. Call evil by its name and it is easy to eschew it.
Thirdly, fear of God is doing good. It is not enough to hate evil. We must be plus people if we fear God. “You shall not curse the blind, but shall fear your God;... you shall not do injustice... not be partial... not go about as a talebearer... not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neigbhour, and not bear sin because of him... vengeance... grudge... you shall rise before the grayheaded and honour the presence of an old man and fear your God” (Lev 19:14-18,32). These are some day-to-day practical expressions of godly fear. Have we taught our children and youth to rise up before the old? We did it when we were young. It hurts to see a godly culture giving way to a retarded culture.
Fourthly, fear of God is to scramble for vantage points when we tumble. It is a trembling for our old sin without becoming callous. Each sin, each failure, must add fear to fear in our hearts. “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. Happy is the man who is always reverent (fearful), but he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity” (Prov 28:13,14).
Paul, writing to Corinthians about sin, repentance and godly sorrow, appreciates what fear it produced in them (2 Cor 7:11). It is this fear that will help us to analyse the circumstances leading to our failure and avoid it like poison. Occasionally somebody says, “I am sorry, I told you such and such a thing. My conscience bothers me. The truth is...” My spirit shoots up like a fountain. “It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare,” said Mark Twain. Yes, to err is human and to accept it is super-human!
Examples for the fear of God
Let us see some examples of men and women who feared God.
First come the Hebrew midwives. They defied the king’s order to kill the male children, putting their lives in danger for they “feared God” (Ex 1:17). Fearing God at all times is not easy, especially on the face of life-threatening forces. But God’s Spirit will enable us to manifest this virtue when we are bent on doing what is right. “Therefore God dealt well with the midwives... because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them.” What an easy and straight- forward way of owning houses with midwives’ salaries!
Obadiah feared the Lord greatly from his youth (1 Ki 18:3,12). He served the evil king Ahab but his heart was with the Lord. He risked his neck when he hid 100 prophets against the fury of Jezebel and even fed them.
Cornelius feared God with all his household (Acts 10:2). How wonderful! He fed the fear of God to each one in his family and trained them to fear God in all aspects of life. Would God that every husband is a Cornelius! Besides pumping into little heads science, economics, history and mathematics, if we can instil in them the fear of God, the Spirit will not hesitate to descend on our family and friends. This fear of God made Cornelius a man of “good reputation among all” (Acts 10:22).
We can follow these godly examples especially when a wave of persecution is breaking on us. It is time to remind ourselves of the words of Jesus: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Well, that is good reason to fear God. Fear Him because He is God.
Blessings of the Fear of God
Innumerable are the blessings when our heart floats in the sea of the fear of God.
1. It is good for us.
We are not doing God some favour by fearing Him. It is ultimately for our own good. Moses motivated God’s people to obedience saying, “The Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive” (Dt 6:24). God’s Word is a safe parameter for our life. “What does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God... for your good?” (Dt 10:12,13).
2. God listens to our prayer.
“He will fulfil the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and save them” (Psa 145:19).
3. God rewards us with wisdom.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments” (Psa 111:10).
4. It is health to our bodies.
“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones” (Prov 3:7,8). In your everyday moral choices don’t argue with yourself. Let the fear of God dominate your thinking and guide your decision. For every problem, no matter how daunting, you can find a solution if you fear God. That will be health to your body and mind.
5. It qualifies us for leadership.
“You shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God... to be rulers” (Ex 18:21).
6. It makes us close confidants of God.
Though we seem to flounder at times God will never let us miss His perfect will, never go off tangent, if we fear Him.
“Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. He himself shall dwell in prosperity, and his descendants shall inherit the earth. The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him” (Psa 25:12-14). Think of the great God whispering into our ears to the jealousy of others!
7. We will not lack anything.
“Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints. There is no lack to those who fear Him” (Psa 34:9). Note that saints are urged to fear God. Beware, fearless saints!
We are destined to be blessed in every way. “Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways ... Behold thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord...” (Psa 128).
8. We will enjoy angelic protection.
“The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them” (Psa 34:7).
9. We will have a banner and a heritage to our credit.
“You have given a banner to those who fear You, that it may be displayed because of the truth” (Psa 60:4). “You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your Name” (Psa 61:5).
10. We don’t need to fear anyone or anything.
Those who don’t fear God will fear other gods, magic, witchcraft, people, Second Coming, judgment, hell, etc. There are so many “fear nots” in the Bible. They are for those who fear God. Those who fear God can be bold as lions ( Dan 10:9,12,19; Psa 46:1-3; 91:5).
Fear of God is a choice.
Fear of God is an endowment of the Holy Spirit just like His any other endowment. When the Spirit of God resides in us we possess this blessing too. But the practical application of the fear of God to any situation is our choice. Solomon was filled with the spirit of wisdom but at times he failed to use it and that was the dead fly in his ointment. Unless at every situation in life we learn to take bold decisions with the fear of God, soon we will lose track. We must make a willful choice to fear God and obey Him. For this we need power over ourselves. We should aspire for that power which we exercise over ourselves. We fail here, we fail everywhere.
The right kind of fear
Our God is not a terrorizing deity. He is our “Father.” We don’t fear Him like the people of old did for fear of being struck dead by an angry God but we cry with a reverential love, “Abba, Father!” (Rom 8:15). “God has not given us a spirit of fear but of love” (2 Tim 1:7). It is a delightful fear (Psa 112:1). It is rejoicing with trembling (Psa 2:11).
What shall we do?
If you have strayed from the highway, remember there’s a comeback road. Take the direction the fear of God points to. If no one comes with you, go ahead alone. Stand for what you believe is the truth.
Don’t lose your sense of shock on seeing evil in God’s Kingdom. We have let evil walk upright through Christendom. Do not hesitate to confront believers who do not fear God. When we ignore “ little things” in others, we tell them, “What you are doing is ok.” The Bible has many examples of holy confrontation. Nathan pointed his finger at David; Peter cared the less for the offering of Ananias and Sapphira; Samuel confronted the emboldened Saul and condemned his rebellion. There are good men everywhere who can confront their fellow believers. I only wish they had louder voices. The Kingdom of God needs more people who will stand up and say, “ That’s wrong.” Delay in blowing the whistle can cause irrepairable damage to the Kingdom.
Teach your little flock faithfully to fear God. Do your tiny part in the big universe and you can make a dent. “The world is moved not only by mighty heroes but also by the aggregate of tiny pushes of each honest worker,” said Helen Keller.
When the curtain will be drawn on our earthly existence God will demarkate those who fear Him and those who do not. Malachi 3:16- 4:3 is the tale of two, the one who did not fear God and the one who did fear Him. People cry: What is the use of fearing God? It is the wicked who prosper. “Those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them. A book of rememberance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord. They shall be His on the day that He makes them His jewels. The Sun of Righteousness shall arise for them with healing in His wings. And they shall trample the wicked.” Those who are seemingly popular today will drown in embarassment and shame on that day. In the flick of an eyelash those who walked in the fear of God will be lifted up and they shall be the most popular ones, being adorned with the admirable virtue of all!
“Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him” (Eccl 8:12).
Dr. Lilian Stanley
13 Church Colony
Vellore 632006, India
+91 9843511943
lilianstanley@gmail.com
Blessing Youth Mission
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