Devotion 3: The Fear Factor
"But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread." Isaiah 8:13
Fifteen years ago, my friend Mike asked me to take over the middle school boys class at the church we were attending. Three things immediately went through my mind. I have never taught before, I am an introvert, and honestly, I have no interest in leading those boys. I told Mike I would pray about it. I truly was not using that as an excuse not to do it. I prayed for three or four days and got very little sleep. After praying through those days, I knew that God wanted me to take the class over, but my fear was keeping me from doing it.
From our passage of Scripture, the Israelites of Judah were in fear of being invaded. They had powerful enemies ready to attack. The fear they had of being attacked kept them from trusting God. Much like the Israelites, we have fears of our own: not measuring up, the what ifs, or even teaching a group of middle schoolers. Fear is a powerful thing that can affect a believer's faith. Isaiah encourages Judah and us when he says, “But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.” Kent Hughes explains Isaiah’s passage like this, “Dare to treat God as God. Don't respond to life in a way that makes God look helpless and weak and worthless.”
Years before Isaiah wrote this passage, God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai. God demonstrated His power on the mountain with thunder, lightning, thick clouds, loud trumpet sounds, fire, smoke, and violent trembling of the Earth. God's power was so impressive that Moses himself was in fear. "Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, ‘I tremble with fear’" (Hebrews 12:21). The Israelites were in awe of God's power. We should be in awe of His power as well. God is all powerful; He was bigger than Judah's worry of being attacked and He is bigger than the things we fear in our lives.
Fifteen years ago I had a choice to make: would I lead the middle school boys class and trust God, or would I allow my fear to rob me of my faith? I told Mike I would come alongside him and see how it went. As I worked with Mike and began to teach, I learned that I had to rely on God's power (not my emotions), to give me the strength to do what He wanted me to do. Sometimes we can be fearful, but we need to be careful not to let our emotions steal our faith.
"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." Matthew 10:28