A Healthy Fear

Scripture:
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 1:7

Observation:
I fear a lot of things. Spiders. I hate them. You never know one is on you until it is sitting on your face. Snakes. There is absolutely nothing positive about a snake. I will wet my pants and scream like a little girl anytime a get near one. Clowns. There is nothing in the world that will freak me out more than a clown. They are just nasty, demonic looking creatures. I am shivering now just at the thought of these things. If I have a bad experience with any of these three, it will mess me up for days. I will double check every dark or unseen place just to make sure one is not lurking about prepared to inflict some harm on me.

When I read this verse I am tempted to associate the same type of fear that accompanies my phobias with the command to fear the LORD. But that is not the only type of fear. There is a type of fear that leads to a healthy respect and admiration of things. I fear guns. They are dangerous and one mistake can cause serious harm. But I also love guns. They bring me great pleasure. A round of target practice is one of the more relaxing things that I do. I fear four-wheelers. I have had a few bad experiences that have made me realize that I get myself in a mess in a hurry on one. But I love riding them. Not just riding them, but being crazy on them. It is a rush to go blindly flying around a corner or bail off into a pool of water not knowing how deep it is. I fear being a husband and dad. I was not given a manual for my wife after we got married and one did not accompany any of my children home from the hospital. Doing what is right for each of them is a mystery. I live with a constant fear that I might screw them up. But I love being a husband to my wife and a father to my kids. It is my favorite role in life. There is no greater joy.

As I think through this I see this I see fear as the beginning of knowledge in each example. Fearing what can happen with a gun caused me to learn how to be safe. The fear of getting hurt or getting stuck on a four-wheeler led me to learn how to handle one. Fear of losing my wife and kids creates inside of me a great desire to learn all that I can so that I can be the best I can be for each of them. Fear brings out the best in me. It slows me down, makes me intentional, and motivates me to be better.

Application:
I need to have this same healthy fear of God in my life, but I am really struggling this morning to understand what it is that God is asking of me.

Prayer:
I am really searching my heart this morning to see why You have brought me back to this verse. What knowledge is waiting for me here today? I desire more than anything to have a healthy fear of You. Make me aware of You today. Open my eyes to Your power, Your majesty and Your beauty. Do not let my head lay down tonight before I have seen and felt Your presence in a strong way. Move before me today in a way that will lead me to rediscover my sense of awe and wonder of You. Open my heart to truly understand what it means to fear You.