Fearlessly Courageous
From the Desk of Dennis Piller
6 29 2023
Is Fear of God a Gift from God?
I pray daily for something fresh. I ask Father to give me the topic and help in writing it.
I am no theologian or preacher but a brother who is not satisfied with who I am as a son. I don’t want to get comfortable in my learning about him. I want to know more of what he has already given to me to walk through life with confidence and boldness to share his word and live a victorious life. I am a better researcher than I am a scholar. I do a lot of surfing to gain insights and different ways to look at things. I am not always the best at logging my resources, but I always try to fact-check things I take in by his word.
I have written before on the Awe of God…The Fear of God. But I felt prompted to look at the spiritual root of fear. According to Hebrews 2: 14-15 Jesus came to “… release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” “and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of death and freed all who cower through life, scared to death of death.
I pray you read that again because there is some real meat there. But let’s ask some questions. Did God give us a spirit of fear? 2 Timothy 1:7 – “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”. But we still have fear. It invades us at every turn.
• Anxiety – nervousness – creeps – agitation – jitters
• Fearfulness – dread – panic – terror – fright – worry – horror. I could go on.
It’s defined as: “an uneasy state of mind usually over the possibility of an anticipated misfortune or trouble.”
It’s NOT of God.
Anxiety is a common expression of our lack of trust… in a person…a situation. Research says, “It’s simply the result of uncertainty, and the bible teaches the idea that uncertainty is, essentially, a distrust of the plan of God. It’s not that anxiety is a sin, but that anxiety is the act of experiencing fears and worries that one wouldn’t experience if they truly follow and show commitment to God”.
Some of us Fear God because of things we have read and seen that show a very bottom-line God, at times harsh and seemingly brutal…all in one sense as an expression of His holiness. We struggle with understanding God’s goodness, and His holiness, in the face of what we view as extreme words, biblical expressions, and historical facts, that make us want to fear God in a negative way and run away like the Israelites did when Moses took them to the foot of God’s mountain in Ex 20: 18-21 Can you imagine, these fearful people who have been in slavery for hundreds of years seeing this mountain on fire, rumbling, earthquakes, covered with a cloud of smoke.
What a terrifying sight. Fearful?… I guess!
Moses stood up, as we are called to stand up because we know God and have sought his face and receive direction… “Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” The people stood far off, while Moses drew to the thick darkness where God was.”.
They actually asked God to leave! Isn’t that what’s happening today? People are telling preachers the same thing. You tell us what’s right and wrong. You inspire us to want to hear God, but you do it! It seems God’s wrath is too “Intolerant” in these modern times. A blood-bought cross is too much to comprehend when my sins are so small.
Look at Adam and Eve when they ate the fruit, they were afraid and went and hid their nakedness from God. Gen 3:10
But look what Moses’ said in verse 20 again, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the “fear of Him” may be before you, that you may not sin.” In one breath he tells the people not to fear and that the fear of God will be before them.
His awesomeness…His power is meant to show us…remind us that God is God and we are NOT! We were at the beach and as I walked and ran my feet into the billion speckles of sand and looked out into the vastness of the ocean I remembered that I AM but dust. Ps 103:14 This is the kind of fear that acknowledges our need for God…our need for his help, healing, and a Savior that loves us.
It is a fear that drives us to recognize God, drives us to repentance, and inspires us by his love to submit and obey a benevolent God. That is the fear we must embrace.
Tomorrow let’s talk about the seventh gift of the Holy Spirit. The “Fear of The Lord” and how he has laid out a path and means to overcome the fear of the world.
You raise me up – Celtic Women
