Fear of the Lord has been a theme God keeps bringing up in my life as of late and the truth is...it has been severely lacking. Without fear of the Lord, any wisdom I thought I might have had is overridden because scripture is clear that the beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord. (Proverbs 9:10) Carolyn McCully puts it this way,
"Being conscious of God's approval or His displeasure is what the Bible calls "fear of the Lord." It means to be in awe of, or to respect, more than merely to be afraid. Conversely, what we now call peer pressure, people-pleasing, or co-dependency is what the Bible calls "fear of man." In a nutshell, the fear of man can either be a fear of what others think of us or will do to us, or a craving for approval and a fear of rejection."
When I was younger I struggled with fear of man, but I hadn't really thought it was an area I still needed help with, but the heart is deceitful right? In relationships, a lack of fearing God will quickly manifest itself. If I am trying to control the way a friendship should go, being concerned about someone rejecting me or craving their good opinion more then God's, then my view of man is big and my view of God is small. If I truly fear and trust God, I don't need to be worried about whether a friendship will last or if they think well of me, because God is in control of who He wants in our lives. Only God can completely satisfy. Not our parents, siblings, friends or their good opinions.
"What is it that shame-fear and rejection-fear have in common? To use a biblical image, they both indicate that people are our favorite idol. We exalt them and their perceived power above God. We worship them as ones who have God-like exposing gazes (shame-fear) or God-like ability to "fill" us with esteem, love, admiration, acceptance, respect, and other psychological desires (rejection-fear).... Like all idols, people are created things, not the Creator (Rom. 1:25), and they do not deserve our worship. They are worshipped because we perceive that they have power to give us something. We think they can bless us."- Ed Welch
Proverbs 29:25 "The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe."
When we fear and trust in anything other than God, we are in essence slapping Him in the face and telling Him that we know He loves us, but it just isn't enough. We know He supplies all our "Needs", but we have some "Wants" that we desire right now. True fear of the Lord will manifest itself in our hearts, minds and actions. It will help us say no to sin and yes to righteousness.
"The most radical treatment for the fear of man is the fear of the Lord. God must be bigger to you than people are.... Regarding other people, our problem is that we need them (for ourselves) more than we love them (for the glory of God). The task God sets for us is to need them less and love them more." - Ed Welch
Fear of man may look different in everyone's life, but the root of the matter is still the same. Most sins start with the breaking of the first commandment, not to have any other gods before the Lord. But even after having broken this commandment more times then I can count, God in His patience and mercy always directs my gaze back to Him. If we failed to fear and trust God yesterday, there is good news...we can start today! God is kind to give us promises as well. Proverbs 29:25 doesn't just give us a warning, but it gives us the promise, "but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe." That is an all encompassing safety. Our lives, hearts, minds, hopes, dreams and salvation are all safe when they are in God. When we fear God, we trust him.
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