Fear of God is not a negative; it is the most positive thing in the cosmos. As a culture, we have largely lost the fitting view of the transcendent God. We have become all too familiar with Him, treating Him as if He existed for our pleasure. To the dismay of many, the facts stand quite the opposite. We exist for His pleasure. The reason I breathe is to bring glory to Him. This is in no way a restrictive concept, but one that catapults me into the mystery of unbounded hope.
When a person does not view God as the grandest and deserving of all dedication, that person will be in turmoil. Nothing aligns properly under the dominion of self. Why? Self is a false sovereignty, and operation on a false premise leads to a false conclusion. God is the only self-existent one. He made all things and all people. He has right of ownership, and the owned ones find their peace in His purpose. The designer knows how the design must operate in order to be what it was meant to be.
Proverbs 15:16 (NASB) makes clear, “Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and turmoil with it.” Shattering the misconceptions of the self-absorbed, we come to terms with the fact that very little material gain in this world is far superior to much treasure accompanied by the unrest of minds that refuse to accept the sovereignty of God.
God must be revered for peace to flood into the human heart. God made me. I will answer to Him for the following: the life He gave me, the body He gave me, the moments He gave me, the heart He gave me, the mind He gave me, the influence He gave me, and every single breath He brings. He is to be feared because He demands an answer for my life. He demands payment for my sin. He superintends my destiny and prescribes my eternity. I ought to be in awe of Him. He alone is holy.
When my heart properly fears this sovereign God, tumult flees my soul. For, He is in His proper place – at the helm. My reverence for Him drives me to His saving grace, where Jesus stands as my righteousness. My awe of Him hastens me to love Him more and seek to understand whatever mysteries of Him He graces me to know. My respect for who He actually is compels me to yield my life to His cause.
Yes, I can live vibrantly with very little because fear of God is in my heart. The accumulation of earthly goods and distractions do not deliver what the human soul desperately needs. We do not need more; we need to rightly direct all we do have. We need to direct the entire realm of our lives to the One to Whom we owe everything. Whether I have little or much is no matter; the state of my heart in relation to God determines my level of peace.
Put off no longer the pursuit of God because He demands to be feared. Reverence for the sovereign God is the only way to live without distress. The reality is that He made you, and you will answer to Him. This should place you in a state of awe – not awe that leads to nervousness, but awe that leads to deliverance. We are free when we worship the One we ought to rightly revere. We were made for it.