God-phobia

Ephesians 5:21 (KJV) "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God."

She was deathly afraid of heights. Without knowing the full extent of the phobia she went with her family to visit the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri. As soon as she arrived at the viewing area, some 630 feet high, she started turning "green" and almost locked up completely. She had to be physically led to the elevator by her helpful husband. Once at the bottom she quickly recovered and enjoyed the rest of the sightseeing trip with her family. In technical terms her fear is called acrophobia.

A phobia is an intense fear of something, that in reality, poses little or no threat of danger. There are literally hundreds of phobias but some of the more commonly recognized ones are: Claustrophobia (fear of confined spaces), agoraphobia (fear of being in public places), arachnophobia (fear of spiders), ophidiophobia (fear of snakes) and brontophobia (fear of lightning or thunder). A phobia can be developed at any stage in life. People can experience mild or very severe phobias. Although the object of the phobia can be different there are symptoms or characteristics that are common in many phobias.

People who have a phobia often have trouble not thinking about the object of their fear. They have a feeling of uncontrollable anxiety when in the presence of the object of their fear. They feel helpless when confronted with it. They worry about upcoming events that may bring them into contact with it. They will go to extremes to avoid it. These are just a few symptoms but they serve well the illustration I want to make. In summary a phobia consumes one’s thinking, renders them helpless and controls the direction of one’s life.

In Ephesians 5:21 and others in the Scriptures we are told to "Fear God". To many this can be a confusing concept. We are to fear the One who loves and cares for us like a Father? The common Greek word for fear is "phobos" (noun) or "phobeo" (verb). This is where our word for phobia comes from. The Bible says we are to have a phobia of God. One common explanation of fearing God is to have a deep reverence for Him. This is true but may still leave one confused. Another is that we are to fear God because He has the power of life and death over us. This explanation completely negates the loving relationship He wants to have with us. In our usual definition of fear, fearing God can almost seem like a negative thing. Let’s look at the fear of God using our three part summary of phobias.

If we have a good and healthy God-phobia, our thinking will be consumed by thoughts of God. He will dominate our lives. When we are at a crossroad to sin our God-phobia will direct our thoughts to righteousness and away from sin. If we have a good and healthy God-phobia, His presence in our lives will render us helpless. We will experience II Cor 12:9 where "His strength is made perfect in our weakness..." In our helpless condition, He will be able to work out His power in our lives. If we have a good and healthy God-phobia, He will control the direction of our lives. Our God-phobia will affect every decision we make, every path we walk and every word we speak. We need a good case of God-phobia.

God, help us to fear You in a good and healthy way. May You consume our thoughts, bring us to a state of helplessness in our own strength, and control every aspect of the direction of our lives. Amen!