Some may think what is written today conflicts with the message of God’s love, but it does not. When three-year-old John is at our house, something could happen that might not look like love. If John walks into the road without permission, he will receive swift and intense pain. I want the ‘fear of Dana’ to keep this little boy far away from a dangerous step. Is such an attitude meanness… or love?
At risk of being labeled crazy, I want to share three occasions when I faced unique moments of fear (I won’t include many stories from foreign lands 
).
- More than eight years ago (before cancer), I was praying in my bedroom and felt God impress something on my heart that made me tremble: “Jesus is coming back soon and most people aren’t prepared.”
- More than seven years ago, at the doctor’s office, after asking what would happen if I chose not to do anything about the cancer just discovered in my blood, I was told: “You might have three months to live.”
- In the middle of a sleepless night of an early round of chemo, I could not breathe. I was on our sofa downstairs and it was as if some evil presence was smothering me. I was not hallucinating; I really thought I was going to suffocate. I could barely whisper, “Jesus,” and when I did, the presence left and I was able to breathe again. (Do you think I’m crazy?)
Now of these three experiences, which do you think brought most fear? The answer is #1. Fear of death, fear of evil, fear of the Lord… no comparison.
We may think, “But if we talk about ‘fearing God’ people will be scared away from Him. Shouldn’t we just talk about His love and kindness?” Paul wrote, “Consider the kindness and severity of God.” Jesus said, “I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you who to fear: fear the One who after He has killed has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!” Why would Jesus, who knew God better than anyone, and who described Him as the Father who ran to forgive and restore the prodigal, tell people to fear Him? Such a question is not difficult to answer; Jesus knew the “fear of the Lord” was “the beginning of knowledge” and “the beginning of wisdom.” He knows God’s “mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation,” and He knows “the Lord delights in those who fear Him.”
So where’s the “fear of the Lord” in my generation? Where’s the “fear of the Lord” in my children’s generation? Has a misunderstanding of perfect love made “living in the fear of the Lord” (a description of the early church) incomprehensible? Oswald Chambers wrote: “Beware of the pleasant view of the Fatherhood of God – God is so kind and loving that of course He will forgive us. That sentiment has no place whatever in the New Testament. The only ground on which God can forgive us is the tremendous tragedy of the Cross of Christ…” (from “My Utmost For His Highest” – Nov. 20) The Cross is the place where the humble can receive the unfailing love of God… and the place where we can understand the fear of the Lord. If you saw Mel Gibson’s film, “The Passion,” you were shocked (and perhaps sickened) with the torture Jesus endured… the beating, the humiliation, the crucifixion. If indeed Jesus had to die, why did His death have to be so horrible? Because of sin – your sin, my sin, the sins of the world…
Sin ruins, destroys, damns, and separates us from the loving Father. No wonder it brings God’s wrath. From Paul’: “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things (sexual immorality, any kind of impurity, greed) God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them.” God hates sin no less today than when the punishment fell on His innocent Son. Does this not bring fear… and praise? “My sin – O the bliss of this glorious thought: My sin, not in part but whole, is nailed to the Cross and I bear it no more, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.” From Peter: “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.” “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives…”
From God: “They shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good, and for the good of their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so they will not turn away from Me.” Jeremiah 32:38-40