What the fear of the Lord is

What is the Fear of the Lord

Proverbs 1: 7, Psalm 29: 28

You know fear in our culture is almost a dirty word. We don’t want it because we think it marks a sign of weakness. But this Biblical concept of the fear of the Lord is something entirely unique. It does involve an element of fear but more in the way that fear might operate when standing at the top of the Empire State Building and contemplating jumping off of it. One would have a clear sense of solemnity because there is a knowledge that while we have the freedom and the choice to jump, (not that I’m recommending it) we know that there is also this thing called the Law of Gravity. It is immutable. It doesn’t care if you are a pauper or a president, it operates the same way every time, and so when you choose to jump, in a full show of your independence, its force will ensure that your will remains for as long as it takes you to hit the ground.

In the same way we also learn to fear the Lord. Not because He is ever out to get us or means us harm, but because He is the creator, our creator. His ways are rooted in His character, which reflect His holiness and justice. As the creator, He has created the universe and its creatures to operate as He has designed them to. In addition, He has established laws of the universe and moral laws based on what things are designed for, and if we operate outside of those bounds, we are going to get hurt.

Unfortunately for us, we usually have to bump up against those laws and step out of God’s design on a few things to realize that we got hurt because we did. When that happens, we begin to understand that this is My Father’s World. Just as David did when he says, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I love Thy law.”

But the fear of the Lord is so much more. It is also the kind of feeling that we have when we look at the stars at night and realize that we are standing on a rock in the middle of space in the middle of a galaxy that is only one of hundreds in the universe. It is knowing that we serve a God who is not some divine collage figment of our imagination that seems most proper to us. He is a real being, who is all knowing, all wise, all present, all loving eternal and the essence of all that is good and right. He holds the universe in His hand; by Him all things were created and in Him all things hold together Colossians says. Yet, He created us to have relationship with Him. He made us unique from the animals and He wants relationship with us. So much that when we broke our relationship with Him by sinning, He made a way by shedding His own blood for us to have that relationship again.

But Solomon says that it is this fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom. I think that means that we don’t really begin to understand things rightly and in their deep and true nature until we understand them in light of who He is. The more we know Him, the more we have wisdom and understanding. The more we relate to our lives with Him as the fulcrum, the more we find that balance and blessing accompany us.  We really can’t understand ourselves except in light of who He is. The converse is true too. We least understand ourselves by trying to pursue inner truth or inner guidance apart from His Holy Spirit. We are created to be like the moon.

The moon doesn’t have its own light. It merely reflects the light of the Sun. It would have nothing to offer if it weren’t for its function in relationship to the Sun and its light. So are we. We are made to be reflections of God’s light and life in us.  We shine when we reflect Him. Our purpose is fulfilled as we reflect what and who He is. 

Its interesting to note that having the fear of the Lord is one of the few things in Scripture that consistently brings with it a promise of blessing. Maybe we should pay more attention to it. Some of the things we are promised in Scripture as a result of fearing the Lord: Long life, riches, favor, success, seeing our children's children, living a long life, sleeping peacefully, being protected, joy, peace etc....What a great list.

It boils down to this: Proverbs 3: 5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths." We are not to trust ourselves. We are to trust Him. To seek His face and His wisdom in our lives. We are to understand that operating outside of His design for things has disastrous results. We are to approach every situation with a view to pleasing Him rather than ourselves. When we do, we will know the blessings of His favor and His peace in our lives. May we learn to fear Him and walk in His ways.

Faith Depends on Remembering

Faith Depends on Remembering

Recently our pastor preached a sermon on Psalm 13. It was timely because as I was listening I couldn't help thinking about a single friend of mine who has recently lost her mom. I think what keeps me coming back to the Scriptures over and over, among other things is that fact that the writers of the Scriptures keep it real. There is no candy coating or glossing over the messiness of humanity and God's dealing with us.  

David and the other Psalmists in particular keep it real. I have perused other self-professed holy books and they just don't bring messy to the table like the Bible does. I love the fact that David really tells how he really feels. He says what we all feel at times, "How long O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?" His sense of abandonment is real. His sense of lonliness and isolation is real. And He doesn't follow the recommend formula of praise, adoration, confession, intersession....Nope. Just why are you not answering me? Why don't I feel your presence or see evidence of your working on my behalf?

But his shift comes when he remembers. That is exactly what I fail to do when I am in a crisis of despair. I forget where I have been. There was a reason when God parted the Jordan River for Joshua and his crew that He told them to gather stones of remembrance. Because the first thing we do in a crisis is lose our mind. Literally. Research shows that the affect of Cortisol on the brain, the stress hormone, is that it inhibits the brain's ability to recall stored information, properly process new information, and use critical thinking. 

So it is central to the practice of our Spiritual lives that we look back. In the sense that one does when you have wound your way up a mountain pass and you can look back from the top and see the journey in its entirety that you have just made. The twists and turns of the road made that impossible as you were climbing.  But from the backward glance you can see it clearly, all of it. It's so basic but it merits repeating:  We are not to interpret God's goodness according to our circumstances, but our circumstances according to God's goodness. And when David remembered he could say "I have trusted in your steadfast love...because He has dealt bountifully with me." So I pray to remember, and not forget all the ways and times God has shown up; so when I think He's running late, I can remind myself, just like with a trusted friend, He'll be here soon. He always shows up.

Delivered Through the Fire, not from It

A View from the Inside of Suffering

I was sitting in church yesterday listening to an excellent sermon on John 6 about Jesus feeding the multitude and my mind wandered back to the topic of suffering. I got to thinking about the reality of suffering and the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Daniel chapter three.

When these three were asked to bow before the King's Image and they refused, there very posh life in the palace was abruptly over. The king had made it clear that anyone who refused to bow and pay homage to his image would be thrown into the fiery furnace. And these three give an amazingly faith-filled reply, "O Nebuchadnezar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God, whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand O King. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." The king then proceeds to do just as he has promised and throws them into the furnace. It seems clear from all outside observation that these men have chosen death. That there is no escape for them. In fact, the officers who were told to take the men to the furnace were killed carrying them up there. Their statement of faith had made the king so angry that he had ordered the fire be made seven times hotter than before. And so they are thrown in as the king looks on, watching to see their certain doom. But a strange thing happens. As he observes this happening, not only do the men not burn up in the fire, but they appear to be loosed of their bonds and walking around. Then he sees an even stranger view: there is a fourth man walking in the fire with them. When he confirms with his officials that they only threw three men in the fire with them he is baffled. It seems that this fourth man even appears to look like the son of the gods. When they take these men out of the fire, not only are they not harmed, their clothes don't even smell of smoke. They actually come out alive, and not only alive but unharmed.

For most of us, when we see someone suffering whether it be from cancer, from the loss of a loved one or from a broken relationship, to the outsider it can seem like nothing but an impossible and devastating situation. All we can see is the immediacy of the danger, the threat to their lives, their happiness and their plans. Its interesting though, I have had the honor of watching a few people go through huge trials and they seem to be unsinged by their fiery trial. It baffled me until I experienced this myself.

Two years ago, the day after Hurricane Ike hit Houston, Mike and I had come to Dallas to escape the aftermath of the hurricane, and I began having a miscarriage. Not sure at first that it was really going to result in the loss of our pregnancy, a very gracious doctor, aware of our situation, fit us in and did a sonogram to check the pregnancy. I remember the doctor after a longer than usual search said, "I'm sorry, I can't find any evidence of a pregnancy" and left the room to give us some time alone. Mike and I were of course flooded with overwhelming sadness and a profound sense of loss. But something very strange happened in that moment as well. A presence entered that room the minute the doctor spoke. It was the presence of the Holy Spirit. I had at once the most overwhelming sense of love and peace and I felt keenly that we were not alone in that room. The Lord was with us. Right in the midst of that horrible loss, I had one of the most amazing experiences of the love of God I have ever known. How that moment in my life could be one of the most clear expressions of God's love is not really something I can explain even today, but it is. And this is what I know, just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego my fire did not destroy me. I was in it. It was real, it was happening, but my Lord was in it with me, and that made all the difference.

I have to remind myself of that when I am tempted to look at the suffering of others in my life. From an outside perspective, there is no upside, no silver lining, just grief and sadness and weight. But when the Lord is in it with you, on the inside of the furnace-- it all looks and feels radically different. That's the thing with suffering, the equation changes when He shows up--every time. Interestingly, the one thing that did burn in the furnace for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was the ropes that had bound them. That's usually what does get consumed in the fire of our circumstances, and ultimately the fire of God's love...What has bound us. As the writer of Hebrews says, (quoting the Message translation) "Do you see what we've got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He's actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won't quit until it's all cleansed. God Himself is Fire!"

That same passage reads in the NIV, "the words 'once more' indicate the removing of what can be shaken--that is the created things--so that what cannot be shaken may remain." This is really what happens in suffering, when we are thrown into the furnace. All that seemed to be so real, so important, and so pressing burns up in the fire of trial, and one thing is clear: He is with us--Emmanuel: God with us. Can we, with these three men of faith, say that our God is able to save us and He will deliver us? It may not be the way we wanted, it may not be delivered from, but delivered through the fire; but He will deliver us.