A question I often hear is, “Dr. Dixie, the Bible tells us that we are to fear God, but on the other hand, not to be anxious. How can I not feel anxious when the world is in such a mess of violence and turmoil? Does God even care? How can I be both God-fearing and not fearful?”
Throughout Scripture, the terms “fearing” and “not fearing” always indicate reverence, and include a sense of dread(fulness) or terrible( ness). These commands to “fear” and “not fear” sound contradictory. However, if we understand fear correctly, we see that it’s possible to obey both commands with no inconsistency. A simple acrostic explains fear: F-ocus E-xtreme A-ttention R-egard To fear means to “revere” or “stand in awe”. Either constructive or destructive fear arises when we focus extreme attention or regard on something to the exclusion of anything else. For example, you’re home alone when you hear an unfamiliar noise. Everything else fades away as you strain to hear—over the blood pounding in your ears—if the sound is repeated. You’re so focused on that sound, it commands your entire attention and drives your imagination into high gear. The escalating fear is the result of your focus on the noise and your imagination. In reality, the noise is only a branch tapping the window.
When we focus our extreme attention and regard on… People Politics Persecution problems positions possessions power possibilities …we are standing in awe of these things and fear turns into panic, dread, anxiety, worry, fretting and afraid-ness. There are many English words intended to describe an emotion, but they actually identify a wrong focus.
When we stand in awe of what we think people think of our choices, we become timid. Standing in awe of our supposed position of power makes us controlling or abusive. When we’re in awe of someone else’s power, we cringe and grovel emotionally. Standing in awe of money or possessions creates misers and hoarders, and standing in awe of “what if” possibilities produces anxiety, uncertainty and depression.
God tells us to focus our attention and regard on Him. Standing in awe of God results in the clean, pure, beneficial fear described in Proverbs 1:7: “The reverent, worshipful fear of the Lord is the starting point and essence of knowledge…and the choice part of wisdom.” This constructive fear produces confidence and boldness.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the earth. While the moon “covers” the sun, only the halo of the sun’s corona can be seen around the edges of the moon’sdarkness. Comparedtothesun,themoonistiny,but because it’s much closer to earth, it appears as big as the sun during the eclipse.
Wrongly believing our problems are closer than God is, we’ll focus so entirely on the problem that we’ll only see a dim “corona” of God around the dark edges of our problem. God tells us to focus our extreme attention and regard on Him. When we set the trouble “beside” God instead of between ourselves and Him, the problem shrinks in comparison to God’s almighty power and tender, infinite love.
“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, cowardice…of cringing and fawning fear, but a spirit of power, of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.” (2 Timothy_ In this union…with Christ, love is brought to completion… so that we may have confidence…with assurance and boldness to face Him, because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love…because (God’s) complete, perfect love…expels every trace of terror! Fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not yet grown into love’s complete perfection. 1 John 4:17-18 (AMP) Knowing and receiving God’s love will set you free from destructive fear. To learn more, visit infinitegrace.com or call 580774-2884.
Dixie Yoder
