The Fear of the Lord

Have you ever struggled with “the fear of the Lord?” I mean we are told God is loving and good and kind and compassionate, yet we are to fear him. I struggled with this conundrum for many years. How could he be everything good, and I am still to be afraid of him, because to me, that is what fear meant.


I just wrote a memoir of the first twenty years of my life and gave it to my children and siblings for Christmas. My oldest and youngest both commented on the thread of fear through it, though my oldest said the fear did not stop me. She’s right, you know. Growing up does offer many fear-producing moments, and by nature of being me and the times in which I grew up, yes the fifties and sixties, there were ample opportunities to be afraid. And there were a few more opportunities to be afraid simply because of a variety of events that occurred in my home…so, to fear someone meant, to me, to be afraid of, to avoid, because you just never knew what the outcome might be. Mostly, fear was something bad.

Then, today in church, our pastor was speaking from Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” As he talked about fear and what it meant, he referenced Andy Stanley’s definition from his book The Best Question Ever: the fear of the Lord is the recognition and reverence that leads to submission, or it is to recognize that God is God and respond accordingly – in surrender.

Now, in the past, I have said the fear of the Lord had to do with reverencing God, revering him, but I confess, I said that without a sense of security that I was right. I wanted someone who really knew what he was talking about to say that as well. So, I was happy this morning.

Then, I had to think about the last part of the definition, the submission thing. If I truly recognize and revere God as God, then I am acknowledging that he has the right to complete authority in all of my decisions. And I have to confess, that I have made some decisions that clearly were not made under his influence.

I am grateful that God’s mercies are new every morning; that also means every year. And as this new year begins, I long to live a life that shows that I do recognize his authority in my life, a life that shows I hold him in the utmost of reverence. So, I guess I need to pray that specifically…Oh God, Most High, help me to remember who you are – loving and good and kind, but the One to whom I must surrender completely. Help me to slow down this year, to listen to you, to be intentional about bringing my will always into conformity with your revealed will. May I be your ambassador in all things.