Psalm 19:9 says, “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring ceaselessly!”
I actually have now lived fifty-four years. I actually have spent forty-five of those as a follower of Jesus Christ. I actually have spent thirty-six of those preparing or serving as a pastor.
I actually have spent twenty-eight of those at the identical church in Colorado Springs, Vanguard Church, a Southern Baptist Affiliate.
Here is what I do know: I actually have never not been afraid about something or someone. Fear is real. Fear is normal. Fear is constant. Fear was, is, and will likely be a component of daily of our lives. You can’t escape it.
It is human to fear. What or who you fear determines whether it is a sin or not.
The only difference between my youth and my fifties with regards to fear, is that this: I do know more now than I did then, and my list of fears has grown. I don’t fear fewer things in my fifties in comparison with my twenties when my wife Tosha and I began Vanguard Church in 1997. Rather, my list of fears is longer now.
I’m currently in my a hundred and fifth reading of the Bible and every character within the Bible shows me faithfulness or unfaithfulness and, truthfully, things to fear.
I fear moral failure like King David. I fear betrayal like Jesus experienced from his friend Judas. I fear failure like Peter. I fear being wronged like David’s son Absalom did to him. I fear being misunderstood like Paul within the book of Acts. I fear being boastful like Hezekiah.
I fear being attacked by those that hate me like Nehemiah was. I fear God asking me to do something I don’t wish to do like Jonah. I fear not seeing God’s guarantees fulfilled in my life like Abraham did. I fear losing my temper on the sin of God’s people and being offended like Moses. I fear God allowing me to suffer unjustly like Job.
I fear being asked by God to do something seemingly not possible like Mary. I fear the success of my life going to my head and causing me to fall off the deep end of sin like Solomon. I fear being forgotten like Joseph. I fear a lifetime of sorrow like Jacob.
I fear being falsely accused like Joseph and Jesus. I fear being left alone in my prophetic sorrows and prayers like Daniel. I fear being killed like Esther. I fear being ignored like Peter. I fear being not the best just like the disciples.
I fear being ignored like Jeremiah. I fear what others will consider me like King Saul. I fear not listening to smart counsel like Rehoboam. I fear letting go of my faithfulness to God like King Asa. I fear betraying a detailed friend like David did Uriah for my very own personal gain.
I could go on and on and on with my fears. As you may see, I actually have many and the list is growing.
How do you combat unhealthy fear? The answer may surprise you. You combat unhealthy fear with healthy fear.
Psalm 19:9 says, “The fear of the Lord is clean, and endures ceaselessly!”
Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the start of wisdom.”
If you should be smart, you could fear the best thing. You must fear the Lord. What does it mean to fear the Lord?
We get the perfect understanding of this from the opening of the book of Job. God speaks of Job and sees him as the best example of a holy human on the face of the earth at his time.
God says in Job 1:1, “There was a person within the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.”
The fear of the Lord is the start of wisdom. The fear of anything or anyone else is the start of evil.
Job feared the Lord. Because of this he turned away from evil. Because of this he was seen by God Almighty as blameless and upright. Not sinless! Not perfect! Blameless and upright.
The Psalmist says in Psalm 15:1, “O Lord, who shall dwell in your holy hill?” God answers in verse 2, “He who walks blamelessly and does what is true and speaks truth in his heart (to himself) …and 4 honors those that fear the Lord.”
God is watching to see who will fear Him and who will honor those that fear Him. He sees. He is watching and rewards those that do these two things with residence on His holy hill.
I don’t learn about you, but I need to live to tell the tale God’s holy hill.
This requires me to fear God greater than anything or anyone else. If I fear the Lord, I’ll first turn from evil, and that is the start of wisdom. When you switch to God, you switch away from all of your fears, concerns, worries, and other people who may mistreat you, malign you, or falsely accuse you, even condemn you for things you’ve gotten never done.
Injustice is part of every body’s life who chooses to fear God greater than the unfair things that might or will occur to them.
Job proves to us you may’t be “ok” to avoid suffering for the nice you do on this life. The point of the book of Job is just not that he was sinless, because he wasn’t. The point of the book of Job is, “Good people suffer unjustly because God allows the enemy to have at them once in a while to point out His glory in them and His blessings to them.”
You, like me, are a fearful being. The only solution to combat unhealthy fear is with healthy fear. The fear of the Lord!
It is clean and when all other fears eat you, this one will enable you to endure ceaselessly! Fear the Lord! It will save your life, ceaselessly!
 Psalm 19:9 says, “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring ceaselessly!” I actually have now lived fifty-four years. I actually have spent...){kind=link}