Fear of God

Many of us stay away from God because it can be a scary subject. There are descriptions in the Bible about high priests who failed to follow Divine instructions while preparing the altar at the Holy Place were struck dead. Legend has it that they used to tie a rope around the high priest ankle when he entered the Holy Place, to pull his body out in case he was killed. Many of us could relate to such fears about God through stories and instructions given to us by our parents, religious educators and "wise" friends. The problem with fear is that it shrinks us and harms us, and God is not meant to be an instrument to keep us under cover, to render ourselves as inferior and incapable. This is where we need a clear distinction between fear of the world and fear of God. 

We all fear the world we live in, we are all afraid of losing it, its uncertainties are dreadful. God also has many of these features of worldly fear, we all are afraid of losing Him through our sins and we have all these fears about His fierce day of Judgement. Hence it is easy to tag him as an object of fear rather than trying to understand that God is unlike anybody or anything we have ever known. If mystery is the underlying reason to be afraid of God, then "Fear of the LORD is the beginning of Wisdom" (Proverb 1:7). Holy Fear enables us to seek knowledge to understand the ways of God, to serve Him and to love Him. So fear of God is not the fear of losing something we don't understand, it is about understanding and worshipping God with reverence. It is about being aware of and fearing His discipline, seeking to mould our lives to please Him. Fear of God doesn't have to be only about being afraid of a God who watches over us all the time to keep track of all our sins, it can also be the realization that "The eyes of the LORD roam over the whole earth, to encourage those who are devoted to him wholeheartedly" (2 Chronicles 16:9). It is the feeling of awe the psalmist felt when he heard, "Be still and know that I am GOD!" (Psalm 46:11). Fear of God can be realized in an instant, it can also be a lifetime's work.

Fear of God should open us up, it should enable us to explore the existence of something larger and wiser than us through prayer and devotion. Fear of God should set us free; free from the fear of the world, from the fear of being lost, forgotten and humiliated. Fear of God is about surrendering to Him, respecting Him, obeying Him, and allowing Him to awaken in us capabilities that we were too scared to contemplate.