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 follow His directions and recognise His authority in all things. You’ve probably noticed there’s not a lot of respect for authority these days; we’ve developed the kind of mentality 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.’ Why does it say that? Because a reverent and worshipful fear means being respectful and obedient. It means you’ll do what God says to do, and your confidence and trust in Him will continue to grow. And you’ll notice something else that’s important: the more reverential fear and awe you have of God, the more careful and courteous you’ll be in your dealings with others. That’s because you know you’re accountable to God for your actions and you recognise that other people are just as valuable to Him as you are. Solomon writes, ‘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). It’s not complicated!
