What Does God Fear?

Scientists have discovered a new fear called nomophobia that causes extreme anxiety and even panic attacks when people don’t have their mobile phone with them. Yep. That’s a real thing. Most people have a phobia of something.  What does it mean to “fear” the Almighty?  I’ve got an unorthodox idea on this subject. 

To me, the fear of the Lord is whatever God would fear IF He could fear.  Think about that. If God could be afraid of anything, what would make him shrink back in caution?  

I believe the fear of the Lord is actually separation between himself and his creation.  The Lord’s only “fear” is that we will not accept His love and therefore choose the selfishness of sin. “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil” says Proverbs 8:13. We can understand that to fear God is to simply respect the results of life’s decisions.

In the spiritual realm closeness is determined by similarity.  What this means is that as you abide with Christ you will share his heart.  You will love as he loves.  And as you get closer to Jesus you will begin to despise lying, hypocrisy, death, violence, perversion, jealousy, and envy.  Sharing God’s “fear” is a natural byproduct of walking in grace. It’s a continual decision to shy away from evil and not tolerate destructive behavior. 

King David teaches us exactly how to  fear of the Lord in Psalm 34.  Here he says to “Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking guile.  Turn away from evil, and do good, seek peace and pursue it.”  That’s how we respect or fear God!

Turning from evil should lead to doing good.  This means despising evil flows from loving God.  We hate the sin but show mercy to the sinner. Our honor for God is reflected in how we treat people, especially people different than us. 

To fear the Lord is to hate evil because as you love Him, you will despise anything that takes you away from experiencing and sharing his love. That’s a fear we all need!