BY GREG CRUM
“What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:27-28
The world and our ultimate enemy, Satan, desire that we live in fear—in an expectation of harm or in a dread of the evil that may befall us. In sharp contrast, God desires that we live in faith in His love for us and in His protection of us.
It’s unnatural for a believer to put their trust in the devil and his ability to harm them. This is the fear that we should always reject and strive to live above. With that said, there is a fear mentioned in the pages of the Bible that we should always endeavor to abide in. It’s not a terror or an expectation of harm, but rather a reverence for an Almighty God that holds our heartbeats in the hollow of His hands!
Godly fear, or reverence, is the natural reaction of a wise man or woman who finds themselves in the presence of the God of All. It’s an attitude of heart that seems lost to our generation, especially in some circles, but that is key to allowing God to move in our midst in greater, more spectacular ways.
Sure, God is our Father, and the Scripture explains that we can come boldly to His Throne of Grace, but we should never allow that to foster in us a disdain for His awesomeness. God is the same now as He’s always been. He is an Awesome God and worthy of our individual and collective awe.
Moving forward into these last of the Last Days, it would do us well to consider these things and, if necessary, set about reclaiming the awe of God in our hearts and minds. Why? Well, mostly because it’s the right thing to do, but also because the more we reverence this God of the Universe, the greater access He has in our lives in awesome ways. God desires to “show up and show off” in our lives more than we realize, but so many times is hindered from what He desires to do for us by our own attitudes and mindsets.
So, with that said, what is this Godly fear that we should embrace? What does it look like in operation in our lives? How will we know if we are living in a way that demonstrates it? Most importantly, as mentioned, this type of “fear” isn’t terror, but rather it is a reverence for God. It’s not a mentality that would cause us to run and hide but an amazement of the power and magnificence of the Creator of all. It’s a respect for the things of God, it’s a humility that comes from knowing where you stand in the great “pecking order” of all things, and it’s a fair bit of “hero worship” thrown in to boot.
Brothers and sisters, our finite minds can’t comprehend the vastness and magnificence of Father God, but what we can know about Him now with our current understanding should produce in us a respect for Him so deep that the natural reaction is dumbfounded awe when we perceive His tangible presence. Saints of old possessed this Godly fear and their lives and families were bettered for it. Let’s reclaim this aspect of “old-time religion” and allow God to move in more demonstrative ways in our gatherings together.
Greg Crum is the pastor of Calvary Temple Church in Lovely.