A Healthy Fear

The way most Christians talk, you would think fear had no place in our lives.

We know there should be no fear in living out our purpose and destiny, or in following Jesus, but what about a practical fear.

Let me put it this way.  In Japan, they a network of extremely fast railway lines called the Shinkansen or “Bullet Trains.”  I’ve been on these and they are incredible. Now suppose I don’t step onto a railroad track while these trains hurtle at me at 300 MPH because I fear being splatted like a bug on the windshield.

That, my friends, is what we call a healthy fear.

At the conference I just attended, Pastor Steve Wilson gave a message that I know I need to allow more deeply into my heart and actions.  He was illuminating through scripture how understanding His love while also developing a fear of the Lord is essential to growth.  He likened it to two feet and said that if we were going to run and gain the growth and momentum we want and need, we’ll continually swing from one to the other.

He also mentioned that many great movements of God have been begun or subsequently stopped by understanding or not understanding the fear of the Lord.

I’ll tell you the truth, I haven’t always liked the idea of “fearing” God, but at some point we have to realize as much as He loves us, He is also an awesome and great God, holy and pure light.  And it’s not just realizing and paying lip service to it, but letting the reality of it change our lives.  Just as I wouldn’t step in front of that bullet train, I shouldn’t half-heartedly or haphazardly relate to Him.

In this sermon, I heard the familiar quote from C.S. Lewis’ book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  Lucy asks if Aslan, the picture of Jesus in the story, is safe.  Mr. Beaver replies, “Safe? …who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good.”

It’s much more appropriate these days to paint God as a celestial Santa Claus or heavenly grampa.  We forget that even in the moments when we proclaim Him our Savior, we feel his love but we also feel the weight of our sin, our puniness next to God’s greatness.

I don’t know how all this plays out. You’ll notice I didn’t use a lot of scriptures (you can look them up yourself here) although Pastor Wilson did an amazing job of showing this truth through the lens of the New Testament (lest we think this is an Old Testament leftover).

I feel I’m at the beginning, simply crying out for more understanding.  I want His truth to confront me, change me, and turn all of my mess into His glory.  I know I need this.  I want a genuine, healthy fear that will radically shift and order my thoughts, priorities, feelings... everything.

Sounds odd to say, but Lord, I need more fear.