Understanding the Fear of the Lord

Growing up and into adulthood I couldn’t wrap my head around what it meant to fear the Lord. I had heard it preached in many sermons and read it plenty of times within the pages of scripture, but I was confused.

Why were preachers and even God Himself telling me that I should be afraid of Him?

For those of you who have been reading my blogs for awhile, you know that at the core of the message I teach is about resting in the Lord. The more I learn about what it means to truly rest in the Lord, the more I see how interconnected it is with the fear of the Lord.

I don’t believe we can honestly find our rest with God if we don’t first grasp what it means to fear Him.

To begin, I want you to first understand what the fear of the Lord is NOT.

• It’s not about being afraid of Him in a terrorizing way

• It’s not about being scared of Him that you feel the need to pull back in shame

• It’s not about being worried that He will turn His back on you because of your shortcomings

The fear of the Lord is beautiful and should be better understood as a deep reverence and awe for Him that flows from having a deeply rooted relationship with Him.

Let’s take a closer look at what scripture reveals to us:

Proverbs 1:7 tells us that that fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

When we are in relationship with the Lord we should want to get to know Him more and more. The more we stare at Him in His Word or spend quiet time in His presence we will grow in our knowledge of Him and will begin to see the fullness of His character and sovereignty.

As we get to truly know God and continue growing in our relationship with Him, we begin to recognize and appreciate His power, authority and holiness. This will then draw us into a humble position of submission to His will because we start to see and experience just how magnificent He truly is and in His greatness we clearly see He wants what is best for us.

Psalm 19:9 tells us that the fear of the Lord is clean and enduring forever.

This fear is built on awe and reverence of God’s holiness, not on an emotionally unstable relationship. God is steadfast and sure; He is the same yesterday, today and forever and when we stand in awe of who He is, we will see that there is no need to want anything outside of Him.

In this space of holiness, that is free from sin and corruption, we also see that He is worthy of our humble obedience. As we walk in His light our life overflows with righteousness and moral integrity because we are aligning with His clean and pure heart.

Proverbs 14:27 tells us that the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life.

When we are walking as close to God as we can on this side of eternity, continually drawing close to Him and leaning into Him as our source of life, our soul will be nourished and we will continually be renewed spiritually. We will grow in wisdom, we will trust His guidance and we will use His strength to sustain us through life’s many hills and valleys.

Through these few reflections I've shared with you, I hope you can now see what the fear of the Lord IS:

• It is being so in awe of Him that you know in your core that He is the safest place to be.

• It is being so in wonder of Him that all you want to do is draw even closer to Him.

• It is being so in reverence of Him that you trust no matter what He will never leave you or forsake you.

When we have a healthy fear of the Lord, we will find our rest in Him because as we stand in awe of Him with our heart bowed in holy surrender, we will clearly see and understand that He is the only One who satisfies the longing of our souls.

With much love - Krista

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