The Good in Fear

Fear can be quite effective at keeping us from venturing out in numerous areas.  When it comes to wearing a flying suit and jumping off tall mountainous cliffs, fear keeps most of us grounded.  But when fear prevents us from pursuing relationships, growth ventures, job opportunities and the like, it stifles God’s appointed identity for us.  Spiritually speaking, fear can keep us trapped in wounds and unforgiveness that influence and control perspectives. Although good (healthy) fear is designed to keep us safe, the above negative fears can cripple us.

Because of the prevalence of fearful life situations, we find Jesus saying multiple times, “Fear not.” That makes it somewhat confusing that God presented Himself to the ancient Egyptian world through a series of truly fearful plagues, then led His people out of slavery through the Red Sea into the desert accompanied by additional fearful events.  Was Jesus trying to undo the fear that the Father had planted?

The Israelites were God’s chosen people, His treasured possession, but in the desert, they only knew Him as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to show them the way.  He assured them by saying, “I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.” (Exodus 6:7)  Yet, they still didn’t understand, so He arranged to meet them personally by gathering them at the foot of Mt. Sinai while He descended to its top.  There was thunder and lightning and a very loud trumpet blast apparently sounded by an angel. “Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. ¹⁹ As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.” (Exodus 19:18-19)  The Israelites trembled in fear at the sound of God’s voice.  Believing they were going to die in His overwhelming Presence, they pleaded with Moses to talk with God on their behalves.

I can’t blame the Israelites for their response. If I had to be anywhere close to a blazing mountain, choking in smoke without burning up, quaking without producing rock slides or spewing lava, I would probably be running in the opposite direction.  It is like a slow-motion nightmare where you’re running as hard as you can and going nowhere.  This gut-wrenching fear only escalated at the sound of a disembodied trumpet blast that grew increasingly louder when there was no means of amplification.  In the midst of all this “Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.’” (Exodus 20:20)  Really??

The Israelites probably could not get beyond their fear to process what Moses was saying. He was not only speaking to their immediate situation, but also introducing the reverential fear of the Lord that we encounter throughout scripture.  This is awe of God that instructs us of His holiness, His mighty power, His unfailing faithfulness, and His unfathomable love and grace.  In God’s wisdom, He knew it would take knee-knocking fear to impart the latter.  His purpose was and is to protect us from ourselves with regard to our choice to entertain sin or not. “To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.” (Proverbs 8:13) When we treat sin casually because it is culturally acceptable and/or there is little immediate consequence, we demonstrate we have no fear of the Lord, and we become what Jesus called “blind guides.”

Notwithstanding the cultural craze of being influencers, God wants us to influence culture. But the mandatory starting place is the fear of the Lord.  Isaiah prophesied about Jesus: “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—³ and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.” (11:2-3)  If Jesus delighted in the fear of the Lord, how much more critical is it for us to pursue this transcending good fear that empowers us to overcome paralyzing bad fear?