Fearing God

In the Bible, we’re told to fear God. Proverbs tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. But just what does that look like?

I heard a beautiful illustration on what fearing God looks like from John Piper. He says it’s like being caught in the middle of a powerful storm, but watching it from a safe and protected place. You can still see the majesty and power of the storm and respect it, but not be in danger from it.

For those of us who have trusted Christ and chosen to follow Him with our lives, fearing God looks a lot lie that. We know God is still all-powerful, but yet He is all-loving at the same time.

Tonight at Kairos Roots, I heard it put this way. Fearing God means being in awe and even somewhat afraid of the God of almighty power, yet still trusting His heart and believing what He has promised toward us.

It means that God is not one of your priorities. He is your only priority and everything else gets rearranged around Him. It means that He impacts and influences every decision you make, everything you do, and everywhere you go.

Those who believe in God in an academic way will have different priorites than someone who knows and fears and loves God. The one will turn to God only as a last resort when every other measure has failed, but the one will always have a teachable spirit, ready to change even if it means pain or loss of pride or reputation.

Once again, I admit that I don’t have this fully figured out. I learn so much every day and have to unlearn so much at the same time. I see different aspects of faith and what God looks like when I’m around different kinds of people, so my view of faith and God is always getting bigger and deeper.

I do know that I for one choose to fear God, to have proper awe and respect for the Author and Creator of Everything, because that leads to wisdom that leads to a life that has purpose and meaning. I don’t know about you, but these days, I need all the wisdom I can get.