Heaven or Earth

 The battle over fear, to fear rightly, it's in the mind.  In our trials, in our struggles and day to day, we are cognizant of the temporal, of how we feel, and so often we respond out of those feelings. How cognizant are we of the unshakable things? The things more real than what we see but just beyond our vision?

   Had a good sermon today at Lifepoint on Wisdom, the beginning of which is the fear of the Lord. Prov 1:7.  He defined the fear of the Lord in three ways.
 1. Awe - and this awe may cause us to tremble and fall on our face but fills us with hope, stirs up something deep within us that will give everything for this One, stirs up all that is good and right and elevates us to a new and better place. 



























In contrast with this, fear of earthly things can stir up terror.  This feeling leaves us cowering, often paralyzed, anxious, distraught, crushing.  Not the lightness and joy that Awe brings but a weight, a heaviness that can threaten to disable us and weaken us.
 Eyes wide open rather than eyes closed/sheltered.

2. Holy.  The Fear of the Lord causes us to cry "holy".  To declare the goodness and altogether otherness of Him who sits on the throne highly exalted yet intensely loving and kind.  It brings us to something far and above all circumstance.  It calls to the deep within us and gives us longing and impetus to change, to see and bring about good, to partner with Him and desire to be more like Him. 

Fear of earthly things is unholy - stirred up by the designs of dark and evil things, connotes things broken, taken advantage of, intents of wicked people or forces upon others.

  

3. Submission to the Word.  The Fear of the Lord brings about action, brings us in to good things, makes us better, gives us strength and courage to walk in paths we never would have imagined and to reach out and grab others along the way of LIGHT to join us.  It gives us a higher standard, not moved or shaken by earthly things, things that change, fluctuate, based on whims of culture or circumstance or scheming but driven by the "deep magic", as CS Lewis says in Narnia, written into the very foundations of the earth and established in the heavens.  It's rooted in unshakable promises of truth and life made by a God who is over all things and is good.  What does the opposite of that look like?  Submission to any fears based on lies told us by the world or by ourselves, or the enemy whispering in our ears.  Submission that brings us places we never wanted to go, that leads us into destruction and pain and mars all God created us for and to. We begin to act and think based on moment by moment, temporal things, making decisions based on fear rather than faith that lead us bound and broken...but even there, there is hope because there is a Savior who can set us free.  Free to Fear the Lord in Heaven and be set free from the fears of earth but His great love!

What are you afraid of?

We fear so many things - failure, not being enough, having enough.  We fear our "to do" list mounting, our own inadequacy, the opinions of others, the unknown, pain, strife, offending others, consequences, getting stuck, getting free.  We fear being alone, forgotten, unknown, and we fear being known, vulnerable, exposed.  We're afraid to live and afraid to die.  We fear what may be, what won't be, what is and may not change or will change. 
   Every day we live with fear - fight it or succumb to it - often not even realizing we're living out of fear in it's many forms: anxiety, worry, negativity, isolation, distrust and assumptions.  More often than not, this fear controls our behaviors, our interactions and reactions.  We spend much effort guarding ourselves against unknowns, trying to keep our fears from becoming reality. 

   "Five hundred years ago, Michel de Montaigne said: "My life has been filled with terrible misfortune; most of which never happened." Now there's a study that proves it. This study looked into how many of our imagined calamities never materialize. In this study, subjects were asked to write down their worries over an extended period of time and then identify which of their imagined misfortunes did not actually happen. Lo and behold, it turns out that 85 percent of what subjects worried about never happened, and with the 15 percent that did happen, 79 percent of subjects discovered either they could handle the difficulty better than expected, or the difficulty taught them a lesson worth learning. This means that 97 percent of what you worry over is not much more than a fearful mind punishing you with exaggerations and misperceptions." (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/85-of-what-we-worry-about_n_8028368)



But what about when life does leave you crushed?  What about when you feel like you're crying out from the ends of the earth - alone, far away from any help, hope or listening ear?  What about when heart fails and you're flat on your face drowning and the stuff of earth is so real and raw and overwhelming?  What then?  What to do when what you fear is there, washing over you, wave after wave like Job.... then, lead me to the Rock that is HIGHER. (Ps 61)  The inheritance of those who fear the name of the Lord: a Rock.  But not just any rock.  A Rock that is higher than myself and any troubles I may ever face.  A Rock of inestimable worth and beauty.  An anchor. A firm foundation.  Something to cling to, hope in, draw strength from that CANNOT be moved.  A Rock that is not just a flat or jagged piece, leaving me exposed to all the elements, but an impenetrable  fortress, a refuge that surrounds, protects, comforts, shields, lifts one up above the wind and waves and conquers fears because He is so much greater and fearing Him means He is ours and we are His and we are held by Almighty God who spoke and worlds spun into order, who said the word and planets filled empty voids and rotated perfectly in space and NOTHING gets past Him and no one can overtake Him. And when it feels as though life has dropped us off at the ends of the earth far away from ear shot - He is there; He hears.  For in the most desolate places, the depths, the desert ends, even there He is, His love surrounds.  And in this realization, when this truth sinks and absorbs, it takes the breath away with wonder, with confidence not in ourselves but in Him, it causes all other fears to get swallowed up in the knowledge that there is nothing within our human experience that He is not greater than, that He has not overcome and more than that- as author of creation - to Him all things are equal in their small-ness.  That the only thing out there worth fearing is Him, and when we do, He is FOR US and so all this AUTHORITY, ABILITY, ACTION, is on our side and for our good.  WOW!  Not only is he higher than all those waves and can shelter us from them, but He can SPEAK and the WORD made FLESH can tell those waves to be still and cause us to walk in AUTHORITY over them, overcoming the very thing we feared, triumphing over it when we realize that we are LOVED by the only ONE who is ABOVE ALL.  

To fear and not be afraid

   Perhaps the most controversial or confusing of all paradoxes is the seeming dichotomy between the most often repeated command in Scripture "Fear Not" and the paramount, foundational injunction to fear the Lord. The phrase "fear of the Lord" is found 124 times in the Bible - 120 of those times in the Old Testament while "fear not" is found 150 times and split equally between the two Testaments.  Proverbs 1:7 states "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge."  To begin to know anything, have any clue about truth, beauty and goodness, the world, universe or even to really know yourself - who you are and whose you are and what that means for life - you must start with this one thing; the fear of the Lord.  So, as I begin the conversation about paradoxes, it seems a good place to start. 

"To fear and not be afraid, this is the paradox of faith." A.W. Tozer.

   As I've studied the fear of the Lord, I find it is associated much with His power - He fights for us, fights against our enemies, demonstrates His power through mighty works, answers to prayer, helping in time of need and through creation.  It is associated with His Words that thunder and are like mighty waters, that wash over us, that are always true and right, with His presence which always changes things, with His "glorious and awesome name": Lord your God (Deut 28:58), with reading/writing His laws, His greatness, His mercy, the fact that He sees all and is FOR US!!!  He chooses those who fear Him for special tasks, gives a reward of long life and works all things for our good, giving us favor and reproving us.
     That is who He is, but what does it look like in a person to Fear GOD?  According to these 124 verses on the fear of the Lord, it looks like abstaining/fleeing from sin, protecting the vulnerable and honoring our elders, not oppressing others or taking advantage of them, being kind to servants or those "lower in station", teaching our children, obeying His commands, serving Him, keeping your word, walking in His ways, taking oaths in His name, loving Him, holding fast to Him, putting away idols, immediate obedience, ruling with justice, putting Him first, forgiving, being generous and honest, trembling before Him, our hearts delighting in Him and His ways, and constraining us to walk in wisdom. 
   This list isn't about just another set of rules to live by, legalism gone exhaustive, a checklist to follow.  No, it is a byproduct, a natural occurrence like breathing, walking, heart beating as one grows in fearing the Lord which is a natural byproduct of knowing Him, really seeing Him for who He is!
   I think often when we hear the words "fear of the Lord" it seems to connotate distance, standing back in trembling, shielding yourself but this is a God who wants us to draw near, love Him, hold fast to Him who is ALL POWERFUL and ALL FOR US.  So, in the midst of fearing Him, we have nothing to fear because He is for us!  Isaiah 41:10,13 "Fear not, for I am with you.  Be not dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you.  Yes, I will help you.  I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.  For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you: 'Fear not, I will help you.'" 
  Fear and nothing to fear...to be continued.