Fear God? Really? {Day 16}

I keep thinking about this week’s discussion about fearing Almighty God, hoping you’re not wondering why the heck being afraid of the God Who is called Love Himself leads to real and true peace. I hope that, and then wonder for myself. I mean, really, it’s difficult to grasp this whole Fear-God-So-That-You’re-Afraid-Of-Nothing-Else thing. So what is there about God that He wants us to fear?

If God is good (which He is), then why would He want us to fear Him?

The Bible says that He is Love itself. It tells us that He is the Giver of life. The Only way to live whole. The One True Gracious God Who gave His own Son, His own life, in our place. He invented life and grace and peace. So what is there to be afraid of? Furthermore, if He is so scary, then why would we want to trust Him with our lives? Why would we ever believe in Him as our source of peace?

Here’s the thing: the One called the LORD, Yahweh is His Name, is so far beyond our understanding that when we seek to know Him, when we find out Who He really is, we can only come to one conclusion. He is to be feared. God’s essence, the very Who-He-is, demands respect. And knowing Him is really the only way to truly fear Him. And fearing Him is really the only way we can trust Him. For when we know God, we see His loving hand, His full-of-grace heart that only gives good. And we see His justice, His sovereign hand of mercy Whose voice alone can quake a mountain, toss a wave, stop a storm.

And so the fear of the LORD is the beginning of real peace because He alone is worth every ounce of our fear. Because He alone will not crumble or falter.

It’s a difficult discussion, this fear of the LORD thing. Why not pipe in and add to the discussion. I would love to hear your thoughts. How does fearing God Almighty lead to peace and real life? Leave a comment here or shoot me an email (just click on the top of the page where it says, “let me know you were here”), and we’ll chat.

*This month, I’m joining a bunch of other bloggers in a challenge to write for 31 days on a topic about change. Having struggled with fear (sometimes paralyzing) for a lot of my life and missing much of the living that I know God wants for me, I am on a mission to live unafraid for 31 days straight. And challenging you to join me. And I’m writing about it. You can catch up here if you’ve missed any of the days. Bring a friend, too. It’ll make it more fun. Oh, and here’s a button for you to grab if you have a blog and would like to share the unafraid life (which, btw, I would love).

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