Fear isn’t always the enemy.
There’s a kind of fear that is mercy. A holy interruption. The body’s alarm bell pushes us to necessary action when danger is near. Fear can make us pull a child back from the street, step away from the edge, and wake up to what we’ve been ignoring. In its proper place, fear is a gift.
But here’s the problem: Fear rarely stays in its proper place.
It spreads. It takes more ground than it was given. It moves from protection to possession. It stops being a warning and starts becoming a master. It tells us not to speak, not to try, not to confess, not to forgive, not to hope. It convinces us that safety is the same thing as wisdom, and that control is the same thing as peace.
You see, fear can keep us alive, but it cannot teach us how to live.
This is why Scripture says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Not fear of failure. Not fear of rejection. Not fear of loss. Not fear of the future. The fear of the Lord.
This kind of fear is different. It’s not the terror of a servant waiting to be struck. It’s the reverence of a child standing before a Father too good to manipulate, too holy to ignore, and too loving to abandon us. It’s the trembling realization that God is neither small nor ours to control.
This healthy fear puts everything else in its place.
When we fear the Lord, we don’t have to be ruled by every lesser fear. We can tell the truth in love because God is greater than our reputation. We can surrender control because God is wiser than our plans. We can confess sin because God’s holiness is matched by His mercy. We can step into obedience because God’s presence is more secure than our comfort.
Maybe the question isn’t whether we’re afraid. Maybe the question is: Which kind of fear is forming us? The fear that consumes and steals our lives, or the fear that gives them back?
So Lord, today and every day, teach us to fear You rightly, until every lesser fear loses its throne.
Nate Keating
Modern Worship Director