Still 'fine-tuning' our process. You can get to the original article HERE
NOTE: THIS ARTICLE is a reprint from the blog of reverend Kevin Rogers of New Song Church in Windsor, Ontario and is reproduced here for your convenience. You can visit the his blog called "The Orphan Age" HERE.
In
relationships, fear helps you survive and at the same time fear can inhibit
intimacy. In this series we want to look at the positive side of fear
especially in understanding that the fear of the Lord will keep us from
self-destruction and prepare our heart for spiritual intimacy.
This
is an investigation of how the fear of the Lord differs from all other fears
and is foundational to our discipleship.
I have heard people say that they do not fear God, because
God is love. They’re on to something important that we will uncover, but we
need to understand that the fear of the Lord is paradoxical.
Love and the healthy kind of fear go hand in hand. There is
a fear that calls you to a challenge and the benefit of the risk. There is a
healthy respect for God that calls us forward into intimate obedience and
vulnerability.
In C.S. Lewis’ ‘The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe’
there is a scene where the children are talking to Mr. and Mrs. Beaver about
Aslan the Lion. He is the Christ-figure of the story. Mrs. Beaver says to the
children,
“If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan
without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just
silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear
what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t
safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”[1]
C.S. Lewis understood something about the fear of the Lord.
God calls us to come boldly to an intimacy that we fear.
Proverbs 9:
10 The
Fear Of The Lord Is The Beginning Of Wisdom,
And Knowledge Of The Holy One Is Understanding.
Whatever
‘the fear of the Lord’ is, it helps you to see the world and its complexities
with wisdom. The fear of the Lord addresses our foolishness and naivete.
Knowing the Lord gives us great understanding for why and how to live.
The
“fear of the Lord” can mean two things: First, it can serve as an adjective,
meaning the fear and awe that is God Himself, His immense and formidable nature
— not only His wrath but also His power in general.
But
“fear of the Lord” can also mean the fear, awe, and respect we as human beings
have of the Lord, and the relationship we have with Him. This is the fear we
most commonly think of, for as human beings, it’s difficult for us to look at
the world in any perspective beyond our own.[2]