Most people are familiar with fainting goats. When these cute little guys are startled or freaked out, they dramatically freeze up and keel over. But no worries, because they are fully recovered and scampering around once more a few seconds later. It's pretty humorous to see this spectacle happen, and one can't help but laugh when seeing it. However, unlike freaked-out animals, seeing scared people freezing up and falling over in the faith is no laughing matter. A matter that leads us to our following Wonderfully Weird Command, "Fear Not."
What causes you to be afraid and faint in life? We must face such questions if we are going to be bold in our faith so that we don't freeze up in life. Jesus directed us not to fear people who can kill the body but rather fear those who can destroy the body and soul (Matthew 10:28). Hundreds of times in scripture, we are instructed not to worry or be afraid. However: at the same time, we are told to fear the Lord. Fear is significant to understand because WE WORSHIP WHAT WE FEAR, and we should only fear and worship God.
It's incredible how many people live with worry and live in fear. Like the fainting goats, many people are worried or terrified about many things. This type of fear is what I mean by the "fear of man." Why do we fear so many things? We fear the process of dying. We fear punishment. We fear the unknown. We fear annihilation, and the list goes on and on. As Christians, we should only fear one thing, the LORD. The fear of the LORD gives a Christian boldness to destroy their fearfulness.
To fear the LORD for the believer is reverence, awe, and respect for God. The Bible says, "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:28-29)." Reverence, awe, and respect are what the fear of God means for Christians. This inspires and motivates us to surrender all our worries and fears to the Creator of the Universe.
From this point forward, I encourage you to stop living in fear of man and live by the fear of the LORD. Do so as not to freeze up like a scared little animal who keels over often. With all your body and soul, believe God's Fear is best and act on it to live out the faith. Remember to live in fear of the LORD means to be more human in how God designed us to be and to live in fear of man is to live like frightened and agitated fainting goats, Goats that cause people to laugh and feel sorry for them. So, again, let's be bold like our Lord and Savior, Jesus, by being faithful to His Wonderfully Weird Command: Fear Not.
With boldness,