It’s Friday…It’s a Strange Place To Be

Delight and Fear. These are strong words that carry strong emotion. To the human mind, they seem utterly contradictory. We’re well familiar with fear, and it’s anything but delightful. It ties our stomach in knots, raises the hairs on our necks, and keeps us awake at night. We spend long hours turning over every future possibility in our mind so we can avoid the most dreadful ones. We position ourselves as far away from fear as we can. And yet The Messiah, we are told, . . .

“He will delight in the fear of The LORD.”  (Isaiah 11:3)

We find this concept so difficult to comprehend that we redefine what Scripture means by “fear.” It’s awe or reverence, we assure ourselves, confident that God would never want us to fear Him. We see from a single writer in Hebrews that we are to boldly approach the throne of grace (4:16) and that it’s a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the Living God (10:31). We see from a single disciple that it’s okay to lean on Jesus’ chest in intimate peace (John 13:23), that perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18), and that it’s paralyzing to see Him in His glory (Revelation 1:17). The people who saw God most clearly in Scripture were the people who were simultaneously most comfortable and most terrified in His presence. We don’t know how to reconcile that.

But Jesus shows us how. He delighted in the fact that God is awesome and transcendent. He knew that the reality of God would strike a holy terror of His majesty. It is a delightful kind of fear, and Jesus had it.

Imagine being assured by The Almighty that we will safely walk a tightrope over a 3,000-foot gorge. Even with no chance of falling, our heart will still race from fear and exhilaration. That’s a small picture of our attitude in God’s presence: thrilling, terrifying, awesome, and very, very safe. It’s A Strange Place To Be. Yet, that’s what we were created for and where we are most fulfilled.

Have a strange weekend. Make it better by worshiping The LORD with those who make it their priority to let their times of intimacy with Him get them to that place of awe. They do it because they know it will change their life from the inside out for the better now and for all eternity.

All For Jesus – Nothing More, Nothing Less, Nothing Else.

“He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, The King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see, to Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:15b-16)