#FearGod was trending on Twitter today. As I scrolled through the tweets on the subject, I kept coming across the language that was being used to describe a God that demanded to be feared was toxic and evil. I could not help but shake my head as I read these tweets from mostly women taking their unfortunate experiences of dealing with toxic and domineering men and applying that experience to God and the language of fearing God. I shook my head because I could see the misunderstanding of what it means to fear God.
You see friends, fearing God is a response or reaction. Not a prerequisite. It is a reaction to the love and mercy that the Lord shows us on the cross. Romans 5:8 is clear, “while we were yet still sinners, Christ died for us”. We fear God because we are in awe of Him. As the psalmist writes in Psalm 8, “Who is man of God, that you would be mindful of him?”. We fear the Lord because we are in awe of the love that He has shown for each and every one of us, despite our shortcomings and failures.
The concept of fear is also misunderstood. Fear is not a scare tactic. Fear is reverence or respect. In the same way that I fear my mother, especially when she uses my middle name (I get chills just thinking about her screaming Jordan Lee from the other side of the house growing up), I know that she loves me and cares for me. I respect her and honor her. That gives somewhat of a glimpse into what it means to fear the Lord.
I have been doing a deep study on the Noahic covenant in preparation for my teaching load this coming semester. It is often times overlooked how God made the covenant with Noah prior to Noah keeping his end of the bargain or following through. God made this covenant and kept it before Noah had a chance to respond. Because that’s who the Lord is. The Lord is full of love, mercy, grace, and justice. Who are we, that He should be mindful of us?