The Lord does not want us to fear Him. Perhaps more than that, He is fearful we may not know Him like we should.
Proverbs 1:7 says “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
I have often wondered why there is no little instruction book for life. Some of us would say that would be the Bible. But I don’t think so. If you want to assemble a new bicycle, you must follow the assembly instructions. We don’t have anything like that for life.
Perhaps we don’t have an instruction book for life because what we need more is knowledge and wisdom to guide the decisions we make in life. Unlike a bicycle which can be assembled over and again following the same instructions, life is dynamic. There is no instruction manual to follow for the dynamic things we face daily.
So, I went to looking for the Lord to give me once and for all, the instructions I needed to learn how to live a faithful life that He would be happy with. As I looked into my thoughts, it came to me that I should consider what it is about my life that I feared the most. I wondered what fear had to do with anything.
The Lord made me see that to have the knowledge I wanted for my life; I needed to deal effectively with the fears I had that kept me from the things I wanted.
The Lord helped me to understand how to have fear but never to be afraid of fear. I believe this is the same for us all. If you want to know the Lord, you must learn to fear not knowing the Lord.
I know this may sound crazy, but the fear the Lord speaks of is the type of fear that brings us to love. It is the type of fear that causes us to seek what we are afraid to seek. It is the type of fear that causes us to be fearful but never to be afraid of being fearful.
The Lord does not permit us to fear to keep us under control; He permits us to fear so that we can be free from the control of fear. We fear so that we can be brought to a place of understanding about Him. And understanding leads us to knowledge. And knowledge leads us to see the Lord as He really is.
The fear of the Lord is a fear that leads to curiosity. Curiosity then leads to search and respect. Respect leads to Love. Love leads us to learn how to live wisely. This Love is what helps us to live our lives the way the Lord wants us to live just as if He gave us a step-by-step instruction book.
The Lord permits us all to be challenged by a fear that does not make us fearful. It instead causes us to draw closer to Him so that we are wiser and more knowledgeable about Him and about life.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 says this: “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.” This is not fearing what God can do to us; it is fearing what you do not know about God. The Lord does not want you to be afraid of Him. Perhaps He is afraid you do not know Him like you should.
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