His Fear

 There is fear, and then, there is fear. One kind of fear is not good for us. The other kind of fear is very good for us. We need to be able to tell the difference and to make sure we have the healthy fear. It is not too hard to tell the wrong kind of fear, but it is hard to get rid of it. It is not difficult to have the right kind of fear, but some people resist having it. Let me explain.

God came to appear to the children of Israel from Mt. Sinai. The mountain erupted with thunderings, lightning flashes, the sound of a trumpet, and the mountain literally was smoking. The people were terrified at those signs. (Exodus 20:20) Moses told the people not to be afraid, because God had come to test them, that His fear would be before them, so that they might not sin. See the two kinds of fear?

As Christians, God doesn't want us to live in fear of anything, except Him. He wants us to love Him and trust Him, knowing that He is with us, and He will be our Protector. If we really depend on Him in faith, we will eliminate that bad kind of fear from our lives. It will not keep us from doing His will, but we will be free from the fear of people and things, so we can obey God fully. If we fear any of those things, we need to remember that our fear did not come from God, but Satan or our flesh.

However, His fear, the fear of God, is what God wants us to have. He shows us His great power in the storms, earthquakes, and natural disasters. We see His great anger at sin, and the strict punishments He sends on us for those sins. When we see God in these ways, He is testing us to see if we will fear Him. His fear is good for us, since it serves as a deterrent to sin. If we fear and respect the power and holiness of God, we will not be as likely to sin. That is what God wants, because He knows our sins are harmful to us.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Exodus 23-25.