What is Holy Fear?? It is being so in-tune with the Holy Spirit and obeying what the spirit tells us to do, even if it makes NO sense to any other human because you want to please God, not man!
I was challenged several years ago…to spend enough time with the Lord that I knew HIS voice and distinguished it above all others. I took that challenge… and it has been the best decision I have made in the Back 9 of life. Yes, the Lord’s voice in our lives, the Holy Spirit that comes to reside in us when we accept Jesus as Lord, should be as recognizable to us as the person closest to us.
I now experience what I call “Holy Fear,” because I recognize His Holy Voice, and I know that when He speaks, I need to immediately obey without delay, no matter the cost. If you look to scripture…you can see it in the life of Noah in Hebrews 11:7, “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in HOLY FEAR built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith” [emphasis mine]. Condemning here means not following the patterns of the world. Only God condemns, we don’t have that power, but we are told in scripture, “we are to live in the world but not be of the world.”
The account of Noah is found in Genesis 6-9…Go read it…I love the verse found in Genesis 6:22, “Noah did everything just as God commanded him.” When reading and studying Noah’s life…his obedience saved his entire family! This screams to me, “my actions matter!” My obedience matters, recognizing and distinguishing God’s voice above all others matters…that instills Holy Fear!
As I study…I am also encouraged to know Holy Fear is better than earthly praise! I am constantly learning from scripture and my daily life. That is where God will challenge me and you! His desire is to grow us all to conform to HIS likeness and in order for this to happen, He will challenge us often to do things that we don’t want to do (dying to self) and that we don’t feel qualified to do (so that we experience HIS power). Things might cause us to be ridiculed (we identify with Him), and very often that is for the soul purpose of making sure we keep relying on HIM, looking to Him and remaining humble….because without Him we can do nothing of value for eternity. And value for eternity is all that matters.
Yep…what we do here with our short life on earth will ring in eternity…that alone drives me with a healthy Holy Fear.
Make sure you understand…the only fear we should have is missing out on God’s plans for us…it doesn’t just impact our lives…it impacts the lives of others as well.
