When you submit to God, you don’t have to be afraid of anything because He becomes your ‘refuge and strength’ (Psalm 46:1 KJV). Fearing God doesn’t mean being afraid He’s going to hurt you. He’s a good God! ‘The fear of the Lord’ just means you’re amazed at His strength, power, and goodness, follow His directions and recognise His authority in everything. You’ve probably noticed there’s not always a lot of respect for authority at the moment; people can tend to develop the kind of attitude that says, ‘Nobody’s going to tell me what to do!’ But the Bible says, ‘In the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord there is strong confidence.’ A ‘reverent and worshipful fear’ means being respectful and obedient. It means doing what God tells us to do – and when we do, we’ll find our confidence and trust in Him will continue to grow. And we’ll notice something else that’s important: the more reverential fear and awe we have of God, the more careful and courteous we’ll be when we’re interacting with others. That’s because we realise we’re accountable to God for our actions, and we understand that other people are just as valuable to Him as we are. Solomon wrote, ‘Here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the duty of all mankind’ (Ecclesiastes 12:13 NIV). Moses told the children of Israel, ‘What does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and wit all your soul’ (Deuteronomy 10:12 NIV). So be respectful, and accept God’s authority in every situation.
