Cowering With Fear

All too often the word fear is associated with negativity. We are taught and even teach others that we should not operate out of fear or. even let it control and have its way with us. But in most cases we are taught to cast out fear completely. Scripture tells us,

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and who ever fears has not been perfected in love…” 1 John 4:18

While there is great power in living a life free of fear, how are we to react when scripture teaches us that there is blessing reserved for those who fear God? Could the bible be contradicting itself here? Or have we come to misunderstand the word completely? Is there really such thing as having healthy fear?

“He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities…” Psalms 103:9–10

I believe that it is of utmost importance to know who we are as his adopted children. We have been grafted into the vine of the Lord’s kingdom and are no longer born of men but born of God. I know that many of us do not have the best earthly representation of a Godly father, but I believe that even in their brokenness, their hearts desire was to see their children succeed. How much more does our Father who is in heaven desire for us? Did God not step down from heaven into the earth, taking on the form of a man, with the sole purpose of laying down his own life, so that he could wash our sins away with his own blood?

“As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those whom fear him…” Psalms 103:13

There is that word fear again. But I believe that we can see it’s true nature in the context of this scripture. It is not instructing us to cower before an oppressive God who wants to beat the sin out of us. In fact, we see a God who wants the best for his children. We see a God who does not want to repay us according to our iniquities, but would rather lay his own life down in order to see us rise above our brokenness, to the wholeness of a heavenly reality. It is through the revelation of The Father that we come understand what it means to posture our hearts with an overwhelming feeling of veneration, to a God who truly loves his children. For,

“the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever…” Psalms 19:9