Fear of God vs. Being Afraid of God

Luk 12:5 God is the one you must fear. Not only can he take your life, but he can throw you into hell. God is certainly the one you should fear!

Verses like this in the Bible generate different responses, but they do show us clearly that having a fear of God is an important part of our belief system. I wanted to share the difference between fearing God and being terrified of God from 2 stories:

A Turkish friend of mine is a believer, his mother is not. His mother comes from a traditional, fairly conservative background. She is afraid of God. She lives her life trying to make sure she doesn't do anything that displeases him. In her mind is a rule book made up of ideas from the Koran, culture and superstition which dictates her behavior. If she violates these rules, she is terrified of the consequences and will actively look for judgement in the circumstances around her. There is no grace or love from her god.

There is another young Christian lady that I know who has cancer. She and her family and friends are praying earnestly for healing from the cancer. They have claimed this promise of God as they trust in Him:

Psalm 112: 7, 8 (NIV)

“He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.”

If you don’t have a study Bible with “assistance” notes at the bottom, you might appreciate what the NIV study Bible has to say about what these verses mean:

“We all want to live without fear, our heroes are fearless people who take on all dangers and overcome them. The psalmist teaches us that fear of God can lead to a fearless life. To fear God means to respect and revere him as the almighty Lord. When we trust God completely to take care of us, we will find that our other fears – even of death itself – will subside.”

This is the freedom that only Christ can bring. Only an accurate view of the true nature of God can provide this. Pray earnestly for the peoples of this region who are locked into a relationship of terror with the god they worship.