Psalm 19:9 says, “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever!”
I have now lived fifty-four years. I have spent forty-five of those as a follower of Jesus Christ. I have spent thirty-six of those preparing or serving as a pastor.
I have spent twenty-eight of those at the same church in Colorado Springs, Vanguard Church, a Southern Baptist Affiliate.
Here is what I know: I have never not been afraid about something or someone. Fear is real. Fear is normal. Fear is constant. Fear was, is, and will be a part of every day of our lives. You can’t escape it.
It is human to fear. What or who you fear determines if it is a sin or not.
The only difference between my youth and my fifties when it comes to fear, is this: I know more now than I did then, and my list of fears has grown. I don’t fear fewer things in my fifties compared to my twenties when my wife Tosha and I started Vanguard Church in 1997. Rather, my list of fears is longer now.
I am currently in my 105th reading of the Bible and each character in the Bible shows me faithfulness or unfaithfulness and, honestly, things to fear.
I fear moral failure like King David. I fear betrayal like Jesus experienced from his friend Judas. I fear failure like Peter. I fear being wronged like David’s son Absalom did to him. I fear being misunderstood like Paul in the book of Acts. I fear being arrogant like Hezekiah.
I fear being attacked by those who hate me like Nehemiah was. I fear God asking me to do something I don’t want to do like Jonah. I fear not seeing God’s promises fulfilled in my life like Abraham did. I fear losing my temper at the sin of God’s people and being angry like Moses. I fear God allowing me to suffer unjustly like Job.
I fear being asked by God to do something seemingly impossible like Mary. I fear the success of my life going to my head and causing me to fall off the deep end of sin like Solomon. I fear being forgotten like Joseph. I fear a lifetime of sorrow like Jacob.
I fear being falsely accused like Joseph and Jesus. I fear being left alone in my prophetic sorrows and prayers like Daniel. I fear being killed like Esther. I fear being overlooked like Peter. I fear being not the greatest like the disciples.
I fear being ignored like Jeremiah. I fear what others will think of me like King Saul. I fear not listening to wise counsel like Rehoboam. I fear letting go of my faithfulness to God like King Asa. I fear betraying a close friend like David did Uriah for my own personal gain.
I could go on and on and on with my fears. As you can see, I have many and the list is growing.
How do you combat unhealthy fear? The answer may surprise you. You combat unhealthy fear with healthy fear.
Psalm 19:9 says, “The fear of the Lord is clean, and endures forever!”
Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
If you want to be wise, you must fear the right thing. You must fear the Lord. What does it mean to fear the Lord?
We get the best understanding of this from the opening of the book of Job. God speaks of Job and sees him as the greatest example of a holy human on the face of the earth at his time.
God says in Job 1:1, “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.”
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of anything or anyone else is the beginning of evil.
Job feared the Lord. Because of this he turned away from evil. Because of this he was seen by God Almighty as blameless and upright. Not sinless! Not perfect! Blameless and upright.
The Psalmist says in Psalm 15:1, “O Lord, who shall dwell on your holy hill?” God answers in verse 2, “He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart (to himself) …and 4 honors those who fear the Lord.”
God is watching to see who will fear Him and who will honor those who fear Him. He sees. He is watching and rewards those who do these two things with residence on His holy hill.
I don’t know about you, but I want to live on God’s holy hill.
This requires me to fear God more than anything or anyone else. If I fear the Lord, I will first turn from evil, and this is the beginning of wisdom. When you turn to God, you turn away from all your fears, concerns, worries, and people who may mistreat you, malign you, or falsely accuse you, even condemn you for things you have never done.
Injustice is a part of every person’s life who chooses to fear God more than the unfair things that could or will happen to them.
Job proves to us you can’t be “good enough” to avoid suffering for the good you do in this life. The point of the book of Job is not that he was sinless, because he wasn’t. The point of the book of Job is, “Good people suffer unjustly because God allows the enemy to have at them from time to time to show His glory in them and His blessings to them.”
You, like me, are a fearful being. The only way to combat unhealthy fear is with healthy fear. The fear of the Lord!
It is clean and when all other fears consume you, this one will enable you to endure forever! Fear the Lord! It will save your life, forever!
