Excited about Fear

We are starting a new series at youth group and I can't wait to see what God is going to do through it. Francis Chan came out with a new series called Basic: Who is God? and it's powerful stuff. This week and next week our group is going to be getting into a topic that I can honestly say I've not given much thought to.

What is it to Fear God?

This isn't a thought that I tend to drift to. I've been thinking about God's love a lot recently and I've even thought about just how big He is compared to my vision of Him but fearing Him? Fear is a different picture of the same God but it's just as important as our view of His love. We have to really get both to start to begin to understand His character. I love the passage in Revelation 1:9-17 because it really shows you an accurate example of the Lord's power and strength. Think about who is bowing down in amazed fear and awe at the feet of Jesus. We're talking about John, one of the disciples that Jesus had a relationship with and discipled. Jesus knew him and more importantly for this passage, he knew Jesus. This same John sees Jesus in His power and boom falls to his face. When you read this passage it's almost like John is trying to search for words to describe just how great what he's seeing is. Obviously he is using things he's seen while trying to relate it to the reader but it still seems like John just scratches the surface of how magnificent He is.

What's really amazing is that God doesn't leave us “on our face” but rather says "Oh no, don't be afraid." He almost gets us to the point of fear just to be "Ok, now that you have seen that part of Me, let Me reveal another part of Myself." which makes sense when you read the first part of Psalms 111:10. It says "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.". The psalmist is saying if you truly want to know who God is it has to begin with an acknowledgement of how powerful and amazing He is! It's an essential part of His character and who He is! To me it's comforting to know the power of my God. To know who I have on my side after seeing His power excites me and drives me to live a holy life that Peter talks about in 1^st Peter 1:13-16.