"Blessed are all who fear the LORD."
- Psalm 128:1

Ah, fear. Lately, because of things that have been happening in my life I have come face to face with fear many times, most times I find that I lose and turn tail and run. In fact, right now as I write these words I’m dealing with my own battle with fear. A battle that turns my gut inside out and makes me want to cry out…in fact if I recall correctly I have cried out a few times already to God, and I must admit that I still am struggling with fear.

Is fear really bad? Is it normal? If my health was to deteriorate wouldn’t it be ok for me to fear? Especially since I so desire to be used of God to bring healing…how would that look? Is fear a sign of a lack of faith? If it is then why do the scriptures say so much about fearing the Lord? What does it mean to fear the Lord? Is there good fear? I’m getting married soon and as such I often find I have anxieties and fears from a wide spectrum…let’s see… I am afraid that I won’t be able to give her everything she deserves. I’m afraid that I won’t be a good confident. I’m afraid that I won’t make enough. Or that I could get sick or hurt and not be there for her. Or that something could happen to inhibit us from having kids, or, or , or . The list goes on…and I have begun to wonder…is my life being defined by fear? My anxieties are legit. I have reason to worry about my health. Or do I? Is fear a sign of a lack of true faith?

So, I sit here and I am filled with thoughts, questions with seemingly no answer in sight and musings on a single word. Fear. And I must ask myself now...what is fear?
According to Dictionary.com fear is:

1. A feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or
imminence of danger.

2. A state or condition marked by this feeling: living in fear.

3. A feeling of disquiet or apprehension: a fear of looking
foolish.

4. Extreme reverence or awe, as toward a supreme power.

5. A reason for dread or apprehension: Being alone is my
greatest fear.

v. feared, fear·ing, fears
v. tr.

1. To be afraid or frightened of.

2. To be uneasy or apprehensive about: feared the test results.

3. To be in awe of; revere.

4. To consider probable; expect: I fear you are wrong. I fear I
have bad news for you.

5. Archaic. To feel fear within (oneself).

And in the scriptures I find fear mentioned as being both good and bad. For instance: "The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever." - Psalm 19:9 or what about "Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord." - Acts 9:31. Now, I don't know about you but that scripture does not seem like it is calling fear bad, but instead fear is used as an encouraging and good word. But what about the times when the scriptures tell us not to worry and not to fear? I did a search on Biblegateway of the phrase "Do not fear" and came up with 18 exact matches. Do the scriptures contradict themselves when they tell us to fear God and then also tell us that: "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear" - Romans 8:15 which I have also heard prophecied as: "For I did not give you a spirit of fear..." I don't believe that the Bible contradicts itself at all, so then I must look at the word fear.

I continue to look over the definition from dictionary.com and the verses that talk about fearing the Lord. And I notice that even the dictionary has a similar yet specifically unique definition of fear as one that can be full of awe and reverence and as something that can cause a person to live in fear and feel dread and apprehension. If I look at the scriptures and use these terms in the place I find that fear and it's definition as awe and revere seems to fit the most.

This is my opinion. I have prayed that my words
would be truth but I admit that I am forming
an opinion based on these things.

To revere means to respect, to love, to hold sacred, to adore, and to worship. And to respect means (according to Thesaurus.com) that you admire, or abide by, adhere to, adore, appreciate, attend, awe, comply with, defer to, esteem, follow, heed, honor, note, notice, obey, observe, of, pay attention, recognize, regard, revere, reverence, show consideration, show courtesy, spare, uphold, value, and venerate. Some of that is greek to me, but I have highlighted the things I believe hold true to fearing the Lord in action. In this I can find no fault in fear. I also do believe that the "bad" definition of fear, the one that deals with dread, and terror also has it's place in fearing God, after all...haven't you ever heard "I brought you into this world, I can take you out."? My parents have said that to me in my life a few times, and it is true of God more so than our parents. Not only does God have the ability to destroy our bodies and just kill us off if He wanted to...He can also destroy our souls...poof we cease to exist, in this life or the next. My parents definitelly can't do that and yet I do "fear" (in reverence and respect) my parents accordingly. How much more should I fear God. Ok, so then so far I can see nothing wrong with fear...until I start looking at the scriptures that say do not fear.

"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?" Luke 12:25,26

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." - Isaiah 41:10

"Do not fear what they fear ; do not be frightened."- 1 Peter 3: 14

So then, I find that fear is something I should not do when I fear the things of this world, like what to eat, where to live, what to wear, even my health. God fed 5000, then He did it again for 4000, He sent food to His prophet hidden in the desert, He healed people with a word and a touch, and He proved that He keeps His word. Therefore good fear is fear that is directed at God because He is worth being fearful of, and bad fear is fear that debilitates us, fear that cripples us and makes us slaves to it. May you live in the fear of the Lord God. Amen.