Not long ago God asked me, " Who do you fear? Me or the world?"
I was driving home from my mother's house after a regular Sunday visit, and doubts were entering my head. You know when something is going right in life and you just can't seem to accept it? So you try and find something wrong with and it's not long before you do. (Hmmm....sound much like the devil trying to steal joy? I think so. Flick him off like the flea he is.)
This is what I was doing a few Sundays ago. I know in my heart that God is working on something really lovely in my life right now. (A small part of me feels that I don't deserve this. But, perhaps that's a different blog.) Nonetheless, I know His hand is in a particular area of my life right now. And yet...(hangs head in shame) I started thinking of what other people's opinions would be. And I started to doubt. I started to distort ( for lack of a better word) something I had been feeling so marvelously good about. And that's when the question came to me,
"Who do you fear? Me or the world?"
Now, I'm going to define the word "fear", in it's biblical sense, in my own words.
Its reverance. Its being in awe of God. Its seeing no one and nothing as higher than Him.
So to me that question meant,
" Christina who are you in awe of? Who is higher, God or your peers? Who's words do you value most? Who do you turn for direction above all others? WHO-Christina-do you FEAR?"
Who do you fear?
There are many of us all over the Earth. With that being so, I personally don't think we are meant to go it all alone. We are to fellowship with one another. (1 John 1:7) We may also seek guidance and comfort from one another. But ultimately who we turn to must be God. If we always turn to one another and never turn to God then we create idols. I believe this is what He was trying to warn me against when He asked me who it was I feared. Who's opinion did I trust? Who was I turning to? Seeing as I was allowing doubt to fill me, I'd say it wasn't who it should've been.
I don't know about y'all, but I think it's a lot better to listen to what you know God says then to listen to what the world says. It's not always easy, following what He would have us to do. In the natural it may seem ridiculous. We tell people about it and they (well meaning of course) offer their opinions. And those opinions do not always align with what God has told us. And if we're not careful, we end up listening to others instead of listening to God. We get into a lot of trouble that way don't we?
It takes a lot of trust to listen to God, especially when what He has us doing seems ridiculous to those around us. Think of Noah building the ark. Surely he was ridiculed. It takes real fear of the Lord to follow Him. And its not always easy, but the bible tells us there is benefit to our fear.
When we fear Him we are blessed.
" how blessed is the man who fears always, but he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity." proverbs 28:14
"Praise the Lord! How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly Delights in His Commandments." psalm 112:1
" he will bless those who fear the lord the small together with the Great." psalm 115:13
" how blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways." psalm 128:1-4
According to Deuteronomy 6:24 fearing God is also invaluable for our survival.
" so the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the lord Our God for our good always and for our survival, as it is today"
Fearing God helps us live longer!
" the fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be shortened." proverbs 10:27
It protects us from evil.
" the fear of the Lord leads to life, so that one may sleep satisfied, Untouched by evil." proverbs 19:23
God fills the desires of those who fear Him.
" he will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him, He will also hear their cray and we'll save them." psalm 145:19
These are just a few verses covering the fear of God. (There are many more).
One that really struck me though was proverbs 14:26-27 " in the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children will have refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may avoid the snares of death."
To me this says that fearing God means placing strong confidence in Him. We don't always have to understand what He is doing, but if we're confident in Him, we can trust that whatever He has up His sleeve is going to be what's best for us. And when we have that trust, we can find rest, take refuge knowing that God is in control.
How can we say we fear (or are in awe of) God if we have no confidence in Him, or vice versa? How can we say we are confident in God yet not be in awe of Him? If we believe in what He can do how could we not be absolutely awestruck?
(Sorry for the lack of flow. Its 12:30 am ok.)
I think we all forget from time just how awesome God is. And it gets easy to look to one another before we look to God and to listen to the opinions of others despite what we know God is telling us. Its great to value the views of others, but what it comes down to is who do we trust? Who do we turn to for our ultimate source of guidance?
Who shall we fear? God, or the world?
I was driving home from my mother's house after a regular Sunday visit, and doubts were entering my head. You know when something is going right in life and you just can't seem to accept it? So you try and find something wrong with and it's not long before you do. (Hmmm....sound much like the devil trying to steal joy? I think so. Flick him off like the flea he is.)
This is what I was doing a few Sundays ago. I know in my heart that God is working on something really lovely in my life right now. (A small part of me feels that I don't deserve this. But, perhaps that's a different blog.) Nonetheless, I know His hand is in a particular area of my life right now. And yet...(hangs head in shame) I started thinking of what other people's opinions would be. And I started to doubt. I started to distort ( for lack of a better word) something I had been feeling so marvelously good about. And that's when the question came to me,
"Who do you fear? Me or the world?"
Now, I'm going to define the word "fear", in it's biblical sense, in my own words.
Its reverance. Its being in awe of God. Its seeing no one and nothing as higher than Him.
So to me that question meant,
" Christina who are you in awe of? Who is higher, God or your peers? Who's words do you value most? Who do you turn for direction above all others? WHO-Christina-do you FEAR?"
Who do you fear?
There are many of us all over the Earth. With that being so, I personally don't think we are meant to go it all alone. We are to fellowship with one another. (1 John 1:7) We may also seek guidance and comfort from one another. But ultimately who we turn to must be God. If we always turn to one another and never turn to God then we create idols. I believe this is what He was trying to warn me against when He asked me who it was I feared. Who's opinion did I trust? Who was I turning to? Seeing as I was allowing doubt to fill me, I'd say it wasn't who it should've been.
I don't know about y'all, but I think it's a lot better to listen to what you know God says then to listen to what the world says. It's not always easy, following what He would have us to do. In the natural it may seem ridiculous. We tell people about it and they (well meaning of course) offer their opinions. And those opinions do not always align with what God has told us. And if we're not careful, we end up listening to others instead of listening to God. We get into a lot of trouble that way don't we?
It takes a lot of trust to listen to God, especially when what He has us doing seems ridiculous to those around us. Think of Noah building the ark. Surely he was ridiculed. It takes real fear of the Lord to follow Him. And its not always easy, but the bible tells us there is benefit to our fear.
When we fear Him we are blessed.
" how blessed is the man who fears always, but he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity." proverbs 28:14
"Praise the Lord! How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly Delights in His Commandments." psalm 112:1
" he will bless those who fear the lord the small together with the Great." psalm 115:13
" how blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways." psalm 128:1-4
According to Deuteronomy 6:24 fearing God is also invaluable for our survival.
" so the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the lord Our God for our good always and for our survival, as it is today"
Fearing God helps us live longer!
" the fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be shortened." proverbs 10:27
It protects us from evil.
" the fear of the Lord leads to life, so that one may sleep satisfied, Untouched by evil." proverbs 19:23
God fills the desires of those who fear Him.
" he will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him, He will also hear their cray and we'll save them." psalm 145:19
These are just a few verses covering the fear of God. (There are many more).
One that really struck me though was proverbs 14:26-27 " in the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children will have refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may avoid the snares of death."
To me this says that fearing God means placing strong confidence in Him. We don't always have to understand what He is doing, but if we're confident in Him, we can trust that whatever He has up His sleeve is going to be what's best for us. And when we have that trust, we can find rest, take refuge knowing that God is in control.
How can we say we fear (or are in awe of) God if we have no confidence in Him, or vice versa? How can we say we are confident in God yet not be in awe of Him? If we believe in what He can do how could we not be absolutely awestruck?
(Sorry for the lack of flow. Its 12:30 am ok.)
I think we all forget from time just how awesome God is. And it gets easy to look to one another before we look to God and to listen to the opinions of others despite what we know God is telling us. Its great to value the views of others, but what it comes down to is who do we trust? Who do we turn to for our ultimate source of guidance?
Who shall we fear? God, or the world?
