The God Fearing {Day 17}

It’s like the excited that mixes with the scared I feel at the ocean’s edge, the constant pounding of the waves and the water’s mighty pull back out. The bus that stops and let’s the lady cross in front instead of barreling through, scaring the crazy right out of her as it accelerates at the crosswalk. The fear of God is like the dangerously beautiful fire that burns big and bold and leaves no room for irreverence. It is the mercy storm that picks and chooses that which it will destroy, in all its fury and power and might. It is that which never falters, always remains, forever burns. It’s the bush that burned but never turned to ash. The hand that formed walls out of Red Sea water. The man called Jesus Who conquered death.

The thing about fearing God that’s so hard for me to grasp is that it’s dangerous and safe all at the same time. And the only way it can be both is because of Who God is. He is Almighty. Forever. Never faltering. Always enough. He is good. Always good. And He is just. All at the same time. He is kind and merciful, and sovereign and holy. He cannot be messed with. All deserving of our trust. Most worthy of our everything.

My friend Becky said it well yesterday, when she reminded me of Lucy and the Pevensie children who wandered into Narnia and were ready to meet its king.

She wrote, “When we understand His goodness and His love, our hearts begin to cry out that He be strong and enough for the trials of life.  And then we discover that he is a mighty God, worthy of praise, our awe and our adoration.  We think we want Him to be safe, but we need Him to be awe inspiring!”

You see, if I’m going to place my every ounce of trust in something, SomeOne, I need Him to be bigger than anything I might come up against. I need Him to be mighty and beyond my understanding. Turns out He is. And that is why I fear Him. In fact, that is how I bank my whole life, my very who-I-am, on Who He is. Only by the fear of the God the Lord.

*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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