The Fear of the Lord

I was reading this morning in Job 28, and something jumped off the page at me. It's not something that I've never heard before; in fact, it's something that I say to my students and something that I've often reminded myself over the years. I'm not sure why it had the impact that it did this morning, but it did.

Want to know what it was?

Here you go: "And he [God] said to man, 'The fear of the Lord - that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.'" (Job 28:28).

As I read this, I began to think - what do I fear? That something bad will happen to my family, that my husband will lose his job and we won't be able to make it financially, that I'll be diagnosed with some kind of horrible disease, that a natural disaster will destroy our home and way of life.

Most folks would look at this list and say that it is a reasonable list, things that most people fear. None of them are too far-fetched, okay, sometimes they're far-fetched if you lived in my brain, but they are all things that could happen.

So why then does God tell us that the fear of him is wisdom?

I think it's because it is much wiser to fear the one who ultimately controls the things we fear than to fear the things themselves.

For instance, I can't control whether or not I contract an incurable illness. God can control that.
I can't control whether my home is wiped out by a natural disaster: God controls the wind and the waves and orchestrates them just as He sees fit.

When I fear the one in control, knowing that He loves me with a steadfast love and always has my best interest at heart (Jeremiah 29:11), I find incredible peace (Philippians 4:6-7).

So, perhaps when I'm afraid and worried about things that are obviously beyond my control, I should remember the one who never loses control.