I used to eat insects when I was little. Mom told me that she found me eating bugs countless times, and she’d have to scoop them out of my mouth. She said, she doesn’t really know how many bugs I actually ingested. Crunchy potato bugs, ants, spiders, you name it. They were all potential victims, to my curious tongue.
I ironically developed, at a young age, a phobia of spiders. Though, other bugs don’t bother me. (For the comfort of those of you who share my phobia, I am done mentioning bugs in this post.) :0)
What are you afraid of? Is it a discomfort around large dogs? Is it a fear of letting yourself grow attached to someone, who might end up not loving you as much as you want to be loved ...or re-wounding you in ways you’ve been burned before? Is it a fear of how people might respond to a dark part of your past, or present? Do you struggle to trust people? Is there a sircomstance that has consumed you with fearful worry, of how you will ever make it through your future, or even face today?
What things cause you fearful anxiety, worry, or even panic?
Did you think of something? I know I can think of a lot of things for me. One thing that God has been working on, in me, is the concept of the fear that calms all fear.
The fear that calms all fear, is the fear of God.
What does it mean, to fear God? Personally, I often get a kind of sinking feeling inside, when I think of the term “fearing God.” When I’m already afraid of so much, it feels defeating, to think about fearing one more thing.
But that feeling comes out of my misunderstanding, of what it means to fear God. The fear of the Lord actually brings rest, breath, relief, peace, ...fearlessness. The fear of God hushes, stills, pacifies, calms, all fear.
I get my misunderstanding of fearing the Lord, when I think that it’s the same kind of fear that I have with certain other things. Like when I think about my family’s tight finances, or when I go to sleep and dream that I’m naked in public. But the fear of God is a completely different kind of fear. ...Like the crown on a princess, is different than the crown on a tooth. Or the mic you sing into, ...is different than my brother Mike. To be God fearing, is a different definition of fear.
To fear the Lord does NOT mean, to be anxious, worried, terrified, or frightened.
To fear the Lord, means to love Him. It means to be in AWE, of His awesome power, majesty, and ability. It means to seek to know how to describe who He is, what He’s done, and promised He will do, what He thinks about, and what He’s passionate about. The more we get to know about Him, the closer we draw to Him, and the deeper we come to just begin to fathom ...the unfathomable greatness, and size of God, ...the more we will change how we live, in response to Him. If you think about it, all of these things will naturally happen, if we love Him. The definition of fearing God: love Him.
These last couple years, I’ve been DROWNING in worrisome anxiety, and fearful panic. These two rough years for me, have thrown me into the need to draw nearer to the Lord, and to try to understand Him better. This has caused me to fear God (in other words: to love God) more. The more intimate my friendship with God has become, the more I want to show Him my fear of Him (my love of Him,) by altering how I live, think, speak. The more tenderly I adore Him (same as to fear Him,) the more I am longing, seeking, to learn about what He thinks, feels, who He is. This fearing (loving, gentle adoration) of God, has been producing an ever deepening... PEACE, FEARLESSNESS, FREEDOM FROM ANXIOUS WORRY.
This PEACE, is largely due to my growing in knowledge of God’s personality, character traits, mind, heart. MyFEARLESSNESS is founded in WHO GOD IS. The more I fear God (love God,) the more I seek to learn about Him, because Iwant to know who He is. And the more I know about who God is, the more I understand and see, the REST, HOPE, SAFETY, BREATH, RELIEF FROM ANXIOUS WORRY, FREEDOM FROM FEAR, PEACE, that I have in Him.
To fear God, means to love God, which is a beautiful, peace giving thing. The fear of God brings peace. The fear (love) of God is a desirable kind of fear. It brings relief, from ALL negative kind of fear. To fear (love) God, brings FREEDOM, from the negative kind of fear, FREEDOM from anxiousness, worry, panic, terror.
For those who love (desirable fear) God, there is no negative (undesirable) fear. For those who fear God, there is no fear. For those who fear God, there IS NO fear!
The fear (love) of God brings SECURITY, DEEP REST. The fear (love) of God, is the fear that DISSOLVES, STOPS, STILLS all fear. The fear of God, is the fear that PACIFIES, HUSHES, QUIETS all fear. The fear of God, is the fear that CALMS ALL fear.
This post is dedicated to a cousin of mine, who shares in common with me, Anxiety Disorder, and panic attacks. Love you, cuz’!
