Fear and God

“I don’t fear God; I fear his believers.” – Stephen Hawking

Many people battle fear in their lives. The anxiety of the unknown often drives us to actions (or inactions) that can elevate fear to a constant sidekick (especially where uncertainty looms). We ask big questions with fear. What will happen if I do this or do not do that? What will happen if my kid falls under the influence of those ideas or these habits? What happens if I lose this job, relationship, opportunity, support, advantage, contract, etc.?

Our society is not only full of these kinds of questions but also lives under the tutelage of ready-made strategies to combat them. Captains of industry and psychological gurus challenge people to master their fears, take charge of the uncertainty, and do what they can to mitigate fallout. Conferences, seminars, personal boot camps, and online masterclasses are marketed everywhere with the assurance that you can conquer your fear and take control of your destiny. If only you would take this pill, do this regimen, build this habit, or change your mindset, you could see the kind of transformation that so many others have achieved. And yet, the fear continues.

If the 21st century has been marked by anything, it is a narcissistic shift to the individual at the center of all things. The self has become the center of experience, happiness, mission, fulfillment, and purpose. When fear enters the life of someone turned in on themselves, it can be a destructive force in their own life as well as in the surrounding community. In our current society, we see this daily in our politics, economy, churches, workplaces, and the friendships we curate. Fear turned inward keeps gossip flowing, stokes jealousy among coworkers, polarizes political views, and drives the levels of scarcity that keep people wary of those around them.

Does this sound familiar? Maybe you have experienced this personally. Perhaps a loved one, a friend, or a schoolmate is in the throws of responding to the world this way as we speak. Fear can drive people to do many things that they otherwise may not. Stress, anxiety, short-temperedness, frustration, harsh words, and dismissiveness can all be born out of fear. How can we go forward in a world with so much fear?

As those counted among the Faithful, we have a Biblical directive regarding fear and what we do with it. Jesus tells his disciples to consider the lilies of the field and how not even Solomon was dressed as splendidly. He encouraged them that whatever crossed their worried minds was known by the Father, who is faithful to provide for Him. In 1 Peter, we are told to cast our cares upon the Lord because He cares for us. Yet, what about our human position causes us to take a stand on our own and try to manage our fears with our own strength? I would argue that a worldly view of fear causes a worldly approach to dealing with it. So, what does a Godly view of fear look like? Let’s read on and see.

Solomon was known as the wisest of all men, and from his vantage point, he shared a truth that has echoed through the ages: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Yet, to return to where we started, how does that reconcile with a guy like Stephen Hawking? Fear of God is irrelevant to him. He is more worried about what people would do in the name of God instead. But man’s wisdom is foolishness to the Almighty. We can leave Mr. Hawking to his own devices and focus on what the Lord revealed through Solomon.

Let’s begin with our right place before the Lord. He is at the center, and we are subject to Him. The fear of the Lord begins in understanding a God who revealed Himself in love but also one who is holy, righteous, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. Many argue that the fear of the Lord is just a caveat of respect, reverence, or acknowledgment of His Lordship, but I would put forward that to truly fear the Almighty and begin to see the wisdom that comes from that is based on legitimate fear.

The cue to fear and its relation to the Almighty comes from what Jesus tells his disciples before He sends them out. Jesus knew He was sending largely uneducated, societally undesirable men into the Jewish population that was looking for a different Messiah than what Jesus offered at that time. Jesus knew their road would be hard, dangerous, and life-threatening. And what does He say, “…do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” So, Jesus is talking about legitimate fear. The fear that we see in the Old Testament that has people falling on the ground like dead men in the presence of the Lord’s messengers.

Real fear has a purpose in God’s economy. Jesus exhorts his followers about the fear that they will experience in dire circumstances and yet puts it in light of what the true judgment of the Holy God can do. Throughout the Old Testament, the Israelites were put into situations where they could trust their own wisdom or God’s. God was not only faithful to his promise in those times, but He was also consistent with his holiness in admonishing them or holding them accountable for their actions. Understanding the magnitude of God’s character and righteousness should be of greater influence than the world has. And yet, the world continues to seek the temporal over the eternal. As those who are not of this world, we need to understand the reality of fear before the Almighty.

The real fear for a believer is to see God for who He is and be humble, obedient, penitent, and contrite in the presence of such a holy Lord. While the world tells us to master our fears, Jesus told his disciples to be more concerned about the Almighty than the circumstances they would face in the world. We can be confident that He knew what they would face as they went out on his behalf. He repeatedly tells them that the world hates Him, and as a result, it will also hate them. So, amidst real hatred, fear the Lord over the hatred. When faced with anger, taunts, mockery, shame, bullying, and violence, let the reality of who God is embolden you, knowing that even if you suffer to the point of death, you are more accountable to the Almighty than the world.

This is especially pertinent in a society with people chasing themselves for the ultimate good. The search for happiness, fulfillment, purpose, impact, and success has overwhelmed the search for the Almighty in many lives today. The world inspires each one of us to be out there, building our own kingdoms, managing our fears, realizing our dreams, and dismissing whatever gets in our way. The wisdom of the age enlists those who are the central figure of their story, their journey, their experience, or their life. But is that the abundant life that the Almighty speaks of? Does a fear of a Holy God cause you to transform yourself to be more relevant in this world or be more in tune with what the Almighty is doing?

The position of humility required to understand the power and authority of the Almighty and respond to Him accordingly is based on an understanding of the limited, finite, and destitute nature we have before an infinite God. None of us is righteous on our own. We do not innately possess the power of transcendence or transformation that only comes from the Almighty. It is one of the reasons we are called to be transformed by the renewing of our minds in Christ rather than in and of ourselves. Rather than begin in fear, many in the 21st century start a journey toward knowing themselves better. They hold off on the wisdom of the Lord for the reflective understanding of their own wisdom.

Additionally, many of them have made their own palatable version of God centered on their perspectives, values, feelings, and preferences. They claim the name of Jesus, but their version of Him is their own creation, resembling a buddy, a sage, a mystic, etc. All one needs to do is listen to the worship songs in their local church to hear this play out. A wide variety of declarations of self, who we are, what we can do, because He has done this, that, or the other. The praise is “me” centered, not on God. “I am this, I am that, because He… Me, me, me, because He.” Somewhere along the way, the wisdom that originated in the fear of an Almighty, Infinite God got lost in catchy tunes and repetitive choruses.

Proverbs calls us to be zealous in our fear of the Lord. He is the God who parted the Red Sea, who showed his power through Elijah’s offering on Mt. Carmel, who reigns for all eternity in the heavens and on the earth, and who died so that everyone who believes in Him can be saved from their sins and reconciled to the Holy God. It would be hard to be zealous to fear an equal or a validated culmination of one’s own making or perspective. God’s love for us is immense, but it is not at the expense of his holiness. The faithful believer knows the Almighty as He has revealed Himself, not as they interpret Him. We should keep Him in the place He should be in our lives — at the center and on the throne.

The fear of the Lord is truly the beginning of wisdom. The One True God of the universe told his followers that fear is a part of rightly interpreting what we should do in this world. It is not to be mastered through our own abilities as much as be submitted to according to his provision. Wisdom abounds in the Lord when we put Him in the right place and afford Him the reverence, fear, and honor due His name. David said to “worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.” It’s tough to do that if we do not have the right perspectives about fear and God.

As you seek Him this week, ask Him to illuminate the riches of what his holiness means, particularly as we look to the wisdom He offers and the fear it begins with. Ask yourself, but more importantly, ask Him if He is at the center and on the throne or if a version of Him you have created sits there instead. He has promised to be found by us when we seek Him with all our hearts. Seek to worship Him in the splendor of His holiness and see where it leads you.