When I was a little girl my parents had me in Catholic Sunday School and Confirmation classes. When you are Catholic you start preparing for your confirmation (age 16) when you have your first communion (age 7). You are in class for a loooonnnngggg time. And during that time it was pounded in my head that the devil was waiting for me to jump out and steal my soul at anytime. And then the description of Hell. Fire and Brimstone doesn't even begin to describe what I was taught. And purgutory... So far I have made it 31 years and no one has jumped out from behind a bush and carried me off to a fiery pit of doom, but that doesn't mean I don't fear it. In fact, it is something I fear very much. Even if Hell isn't what is permanently seared into my brain, I am not willing to take that chance.
In Lysa's book she mentions that "fear not" is mentioned 365 times in the bible. One for everyday to remind you not to be afraid and that the Lord is with you. I brought up in class today that I was struck by the 8 (condensed) pages of verses where we are told to "Fear God". We also discussed that Fear is one of the 4 basic emotions we experience and Fear is a distressing reaction to a perceived threat. A great point was made that "Fear" for God can be used as astonishment and amazement at his wonder and I agree with that but I also take it for it's literal meaning. I love God, I believe in God, but I am not going to lie...I also fear God. I fear the idea that there is no God, I fear the idea of not living my life according to the commandments and not getting to be in the Kingdom of Heaven, I fear the idea that when the day of reckoning comes I won't be the woman plucked from the field, I fear not pleasing God. But not in an incopactitating way. I see the fear as a positive. If I didn't have these feelings what kind of person would I be, would I still make the right choices? I don't know. What I do know is that when I am faced with choices I ask, What Would God Do. And I am not the only one, many people throughout the bible did not have faith but they knew of God and they Feared him more than anyone else so they went against their community to serve, help and protect a God (and his people), they said they didn't believe in.
I was trying to figure out a problem and a friend asked me "What would God Do? It stopped me right in my tracks and a problem that consumed my entire day was answered in 2 seconds. Isn't that an amazing power.
Do you Fear God?
No comments:
Post a Comment