REFLECTIONS ON “FEAR GOD”

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom; and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. – Proverbs 9:10

     Our small group, last Sunday night, watched a video study by Francis Chan entitled Basic: Fear God. It was a thought-provoking study. I am still mulling over the study’s ramifications as applied to  my daily walk. Here are my thoughts thus far.

     Initially, I had a visceral reaction to the presentation. Chan related that what he read about real people’s fear of God in the Bible had no relation as to how people in the church today fear God. “Fear” today is defined as respect, reverence, awe. “Fear” as seen in the Bible, Chan says, is fall on your face, knee shaking, fainting terror. We, today, know no real fear of God.

     Chan went on to explain when he first felt fear. It was when he was surfing and got caught under a wave, tossed about under the water and running out of breath. He felt real, absolute terror – fear for his life. This fear is what we should feel when face to face with the Lord.

     As Chan amplified and further explained this concept periodically throughout his presentation we witnessed a young woman lying chained on a bed as the room slowly filled with water. As she began to be covered with water we witnessed the fear that turned to terror as she struggled to free herself. Finally, as she realized her struggle was futile, under several feet of water, she looked to the light above her and slowly let out her breath. Being claustrophobic, at that point, my gut reaction was very strong regarding the presentation. However, after her breath was expelled, her bonds loosened and she floated to the top and to a breath of life-giving air.

     My visceral reaction preceded my intellectual absorption of the material. (That is frequently true as my gut frequently leads my brain, such as, at the dinner table). But, that may be true as it pertains to our dealing with God. In fact, isn’t that what Proverbs 9:10 is teaching?

     A quick look of real people meeting the real God face to face in the Bible shows that these folks had a real feeling of instantaneous fear, terror. The apostle John states that he fell down as if dead – he fainted dead away. We are all too casual when we go into God’s presence. Sure, “perfect love casts out fear.” But, underneath our love for him, should exist a real fear of God, a fear that turns us back to him when we stray.

     The young woman who found herself underwater was in fear for her next breath. She had no idea from where it would come or if it would be air or water. It was significant to me that, in the midst of her not knowing, she gave up the breath she had. She relinquished her fear when she totally surrendered to God in faith still not knowing from where her next breath of life would come, if it came at all. Even as I type this, my breathing rate has increased, as well as heart rate, as I remember the scene in my mind.

     In reality, none of us is guaranteed our next breath. God has control of our very life, breath to breath. How cognizant are we of that? We believe that we have such control of our lives and, yet, we have none. Real fear comes from loss of control. Ask victims of disaster or disease. There is real fear, terror, when you can do nothing, have nothing, are nothing lost underneath the wave of terminal illness or the death and destruction of an accident or disaster. Then it is not the time for struggle. It is the time for surrender.

     In our ultimate surrender to God we learn wisdom and gain understanding of Whom it is we place our very lives. It was Jesus who showed us this. At the time of his ultimate fear – the real terror of separation from God for the first time in all of eternity – when hanging on the cross, as death and the clutches of Satan approached, the Scripture says this (Luke 23): “Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hand I commit my spirit.’ When he had said this, he breathed his last.” Matthew says “he gave up his spirit.” Jesus surrendered.

      It is somewhat easy for my brain to grasp this idea of total surrender. Intellectually it is not hard to see that total surrender is what God wants and that the rewards for doing so are as vast as eternity. On a visceral, gut level, when death is at the door, when disaster is swirling around, when I am under the wave of  fear and terror, what then? Will I give up my last breath in surrender? Would you?

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