“The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.”
― Oswald Chambers (1)

This quote conveys an important truth about the fear of the Lord. In early 2019, I wrote three posts on this blog about the fear of the Lord, because I think it’s such an important subject, and I also discussed it in Part 3 of this current series on fear.

But, as I’ve been looking at “fear” in the Bible with a wider lens recently, I’ve realized I needed to let go of my knee-jerk reaction to this word, and be a little more charitable at the same time.

Please allow me to explain.

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There are plenty of things that should be feared besides God

In Part 2 and 3 of this series, I addressed (among other things) unhealthy fears, or unhealthy reactions to fear. Today, we move in a different direction.

I’ll start with the most unimpeachable example I can think of. Yes, it’s true…God Himself feared something!

[Deu 32:26-27 KJV] 26 I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men: 27 Were it not that I FEARED THE WRATH OF THE ENEMY, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, [and] lest they should say, Our hand [is] high, and the LORD hath not done all this.

But he wasn’t walking around depressed, losing sleep, or shaking in his boots. Rather, He was simply deciding how to respond to Israel’s disobedience, and He wisely considered the consequences. Not wanting Israel’s enemies to lift themselves up in pride, God chose not to wipe out His own people, even though they had grievously sinned.

Clearly, “fear God and nothing else” is not the whole story.

To wit

Many blog posts could be written about the verses below, but I’ll just cite them and let you unpack them for yourselves. In each case, we see an expression of fear which is harmonious with, but distinct from, the fear of the Lord.

Fear of the government:

[Rom 13:3 KJV] 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. WILT THOU THEN NOT BE AFRAID OF THE POWER? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:

Fear of one’s father:

[Gen 31:42 KJV] 42 Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and THE FEAR OF ISAAC, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked [thee] yesternight.

Fear of manifest holy power (I distinguish this from fear of God, because fear of God is more tied to how you order your life, whereas fear of manifest holy power is more of an inescapable sensation, and it can be triggered by angels, not just God Himself):

[Mat 28:8 KJV] 8 And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with FEAR and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.

Fear for others:

[2Co 11:3 KJV] 3 But I FEAR, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
[2Co 12:20 KJV] 20 For I FEAR, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and [that] I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest [there be] debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:

So, maybe we could stop gaslighting each other?

Psychological terminology has gotten fancier, and we now have a hip term based on the classic, must-watch movie Gaslight (I saw the 1944 version), but the truth is, we’ve been doing this to each other for a long, long time:

[Act 26:24 KJV] 24 And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning DOTH MAKE THEE MAD.

It’s tempting to use an armchair mental illness diagnosis to beat up or manipulate others, isn’t it? Truly understanding someone can take effort and patience…and may reveal some truths that upset my own applecart.

Governor Porcius Festus, was, you might say, an OG (Original Gaslighter!).

Now I’m gonna go all 2022 on you

Although people often make vaccine decisions for reasons other than fear, I want to focus for now on two specific camps:

“I got the vaccine because I feared getting Covid.”

“I didn’t get the vaccine because I feared the side effects.”

Here’s a radical suggestion: Both of these people should respect each other, cast a mantle of charity over each other, and refrain from labeling each other with their favorite mental or spiritual malady.

And if it helps get my point across, I’m going to throw in a George Carlin quote here. You can convert it into Covid-related terms for yourself 🙂

“Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?” (2)

This study helped me be less of a “fear Nazi”, and more sympathetic to the fears of others. I hope it is a blessing you as well, my friend.

God bless.    

Links:

(1) Oswald Chambers on goodreads

(2) George Carlin on goodreads