Fear the LORD

A few days (okay, maybe a week or two) ago, there was a discussion on Facebook that basically boiled down to whether or not unregenerate sinners SHOULD fear the Lord. At least, that was my side of the argument, and people were arguing with me, so I think that's what it was about. I suppose there could have been misunderstandings, but I'm not sure where they would have come from.

I honestly don't think that you can make any kind of logical argument against the idea that unregenerate sinners shouldn't fear the holy Creator of everything. So, for the most part, this is going to be about Christians.

First, I want to ask: Why are Christians against the idea that God should be feared? Because God is loving? The argument that God shouldn't be feared because He is love, is self-defeating. If God is only love, then His love is not powerful. The "power of love" is seen (Disney even understands this) when it OVERCOMES something. What is God's love overcoming if God is only love?

If you reduce (or remove) God's wrath, you destroy the wondrous depths of God's love.

So let's go to Scripture to see what the Holy Spirit says about the fear of the LORD.

A quick word search (Bible Gateway is my friend) told me that the phrase "fear the LORD" is used 32 times in the Bible, and "fear of the LORD" is used 30. Sixty-two word for word references about a thing (and, by the way, it is NEVER used negatively) is kind of prevalent.

When the "fear of the Lord falls" on people (I Sam.11:7, Acts 9:31), it means they're about to respond properly in light of Who God is. When people act "in the fear of the Lord," they are doing what is morally right. Why? What is the fear of the Lord? Here are a few.

It's wisdom (Job 28:28; Ps. 111:10).
It's clean (Ps. 19:9).
It's worth teaching (Ps. 34:11).
It's the beginning of knowledge (Prov. 1:7, 29).

How does it affect us? What does it change in us?

When we fear the Lord we: hate evil (Prov. 8:13), have long life (Prov. 10:27, 14:27), enjoy confidence (Prov. 14:26), repent of sin (Prov. 16:6), are blessed (Ps. 115:13) and honored by God (Ps. 15:4). etc. etc. etc. Even when speaking about evil nations (II Chr. 17:10), when people fear the LORD, they act properly toward Him and His people.

What's more? This is a command. This is not a question. This is not debatable. Here are seven references that command it, and there are more. Deut. 6:13,24; 10:12, 20; I Sam. 12:24; Ps. 33:8; Prov. 23:17 ".... be thou in the fear of the LORD ALL THE DAY LONG." (Emphasis added.) Fear God. When? ALL THE TIME! Why? Because God is God, and we are not.

This is not something that is going to go away either. Hosea 3:5 says, "Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days." This hasn't happened yet. David was dead when Hosea was writing and he's not coming back yet. The fear of the LORD started with Adam and Eve and it's going all the way through until time ends.

Now, when talking about the fear of God, I think you have to reference I John 4 - because if you don't, people are going to feel that the supposed question isn't properly answered. Specifically verse 18 which says perfect love casts out fear, but you have to read a bit to get the context. I think the whole thing hinges on verse 17, "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world."

The argument that John is making is that the fear of God's WRATH does not belong in a Christian. Christians do not need to fear God's judgment. We who have been "made perfect in love" (made as He is) do not need to fear punishment from God. Perfect love, that is, love which has been perfected in us, casts out fear of punishment. There is therefore now no condemnation....

Fearing punishment (wrath, judgment, etc.) and fearing God are two very different things. Sinners - John makes this argument perfectly right here - have EVERY reason to fear judgment and God's wrath. It is common sense for them to fear the wrath of God, for them to be very terrified sinners in the hands of a very angry God. However, we know from many other Scriptures that Christians fear the LORD. (In fact, they are the ones who are usually fearing the Lord, so this is not fear of judgment on our part.)

Fearing God is not fearing consequences. It's fearing GOD. For as long as my parents were in authority over me, I feared them. Why? Not because of the consequences. If it were only consequences that I feared, I would have only feared when I'd done wrong. I feared them because I loved them, because I didn't want to disappoint them, because they were my authority, and I understood that I am flawed and cannot perfectly please them. I feared what my lack of perfection would do to our relationship.

That doesn't mean I walked around cowering. It does mean that, for instance, when I considered what to spend my allowance on, I seriously considered whether or not they would approve, whether or not it would make them happy if I spent the money that they gave me on something like that. Why? Because I feared them. This kind of fear is inseparable from love. They are joined ankle, hip, and shoulder, so that it can be very difficult to even attempt to see them separately.

Do you fear disappointing your spouse, your kids, your family, your in-laws? Why? Because you love them and you want a solid, good, open relationship; but knowing fallen humanity, you know that you will fail them.

Fearing God is about walking with Him, making every decision with the understanding that He is living in your heart. He knows what you're doing and why you're doing it, and you are grossly underestimating the depths of God's emotions if you think that He doesn't feel when we turn from Him, when we insist we know better, when we brazenly - or apathetically - worship something else (usually ourselves).

It makes everything about my relationship with Him. It takes the nebulous feeling out of it, and that makes it potent. And, now that I think about it, that's probably why Christians don't like it either - it removes the ability to coast. And many Christians these days LOVE to coast.

Blogging

I seem to have stopped blogging. I'm going to guess it's because I tell Evelynn everything. Why do I need to tell anyone else?

Just a thought.

I'm working on my second book. That's probably premature since I haven't heard anything back about the first one. But I like writing, and it's good for me, and eventually, I would really like to get the first one published. Myself, if I have to.

Zack is the one who really changed my mind about it. He talked to me about the whole thing. It was so fun; I loved it. =) And Kate always wants to hear about them. I can't imagine what she'd do if I just stopped writing. . . . . *shudder* ;)

I've been working on my typing skills again. I used to take typing tests and stuff frequently, but I haven't for quite some time now, and I noticed with my lack of writing and gaming that my typing was going downhill. 

What else. . . . What else. . . . There's the food thing, I suppose. Yeah, we're trying to eat healthier. It's a hard thing, but I think it's an important thing. What really got me this last time, was how against most medicine I am, how much I think it's mostly bad for us, and while it might treat symptoms, it's not going to fix anything. 

How can I be so against one bad thing that we put in our bodies, but not another? 

Mostly because the other was almost entirely my decision. I do the shopping and the cooking. If we're going to eat healthier, it's going to take more effort, time, and energy on my part. It's going to take thought, research, and mostly - time. I like time. I like my afternoons to be MY afternoons. But how can I say that vaccines are dangerous and then turn around and feed my husband and daughter Totino's Pizzas? That's just stupid. 

So I'm going to work on it. We had made a few changes, but it was so easy to get back into what I knew, what I was comfortable with, and mostly - what was fast and easy to make. Boxed stuff, bagged stuff. 

The other reason was the cost, but I'm not even sure that it's cheaper anymore. Some of it is. Seafood is not cheap; but making your own bread products (crackers, pancakes, basically anything with a flour base) can be both cheaper and healthier. If I save money on some things and spend more money on other things, who knows? Maybe my "unhealthy is cheaper" excuse isn't even true! 

It's going to be a process. It's going to take a while, but I have ideas, and right now I'm rather determined. There will be days when I succumb to the boxed noodles, and honestly, I can't imagine not doing the boxed cake - mostly because I like them so much better as far as I remember. But slowly, I hope and I anticipate that things will shift. Slowly, there will be more healthy food in the house than unhealthy food. Slowly, we will eat more vegetables than before and slowly, we will be healthier and be able to feel it! Maybe - maybe - it will be the answer to my restless leg syndrome or my headaches or my cramps.

Some things will probably never go. I can't imagine I'll ever not eat ice cream or that I'll ever make noodles from scratch (I've never even heard of that one); but some things will go and we'll be better off for it. Maybe I'll even have an herb garden one day. Evelynn would LOVE that. She's a big fan of plants and bushes in particular. I love that little girl. =)

And I'm very blessed because Zack is with me %100. It's going to be hard enough for me to do it; if he'd been even a little against it, I probably would have given up. But he wasn't, and I'm blessed. =) He was even coming up with ways to make cuts in our budget, so I'd have more leeway with the food budget. Makes me feel special. :D

Weakness

I've found something to be true in my life that the days I could most use help, the days I would most readily ask my husband, "Would you do such a thing for me?" are the days that I do not have that opportunity. They are the days when no one is available, the days when, even if I asked for the help, there would not be any. 

I don't say this to complain. God is teaching me to rely first on Him. In general, I have no trouble making quick prayers for help, but more and more I've come to realize that He's not just one of the options for help. He's the ONLY option. 

My non-Christian friends would say this makes me weak, that my reliance on God is a crutch that makes me short sell my own abilities, that my faith makes me weaker.

I disagree. I am already weak. Admitting it does not make me weaker. We are all weak; we were not created to live in a broken world where life is hard and trouble is plentiful. What strength we have has been given to us by God. Whatever help we receive has been ordained by God. What easy days come our way were ordered by God. 

None of us would make it through life without the grace of God. The grace of God gives us food to eat, jobs to work, air to breathe. The grace of God sends the rain to the just and the unjust. Without Him, I can not do this. With His help, I can follow Him through anything. 

The Goodness of God

God gave me a trip to Michigan in the Fall. I didn't ask for it; He just gave it to me. 

God gave me a new place, our place; I asked for it, I asked specifically that we could move in before Christmas, and He gave it to me.

God gave me a quiet neighborhood. I didn't ask for it; He just gave it to me.

He gave me a place where the trees change color, where it doesn't feel like summer all the time, where I can actually see and feel the change of the seasons.

And He gave me writing. I'm doing NaNo again this year. In July I didn't think I would ever do another NaNo. I didn't think I would have the time or the ability. For so many months, I couldn't have come up with either the time or the imagination and I thought that's how it would be. A few more months go by and here I am, able to sit at my computer and be creative.

God is so good to me. And I love Him. And when the next trial comes, I want to have this to see and read and remember. He was always there; and He was always good; and He always will be.

God loves me. And I love Him.

When I'm Afraid

I was thinking about vacuuming our bedrooms today and thinking about the ordeal that it has become since Evelynn decided she was scared of the vacuum. And then, something else occurred to me. 

No matter how afraid of the vacuum that she is, she always tries to get to me, even though I'm the one holding the vacuum. Why? Because she finds her security with her parents. We make her feel safe. So it doesn't matter where the vacuum is - all that matters is where I am. 

How often, though, when hard or frightening things come my way, do I simply run away? Not to God, just away from the hardship, away from the trial. Instead of bringing my focus to bear on God, instead of looking to my salvation, I focus on the scary part. I forget where my security is, and I forget that the "vacuum" is in God's hand, following His direction. I act, not like a child who trusts her daddy completely, but like an orphan who doesn't know how to trust anyone. 

You can see it in Evelynn's face. When she looks at me, she knows she's okay. When she looks at the vacuum, she gets worried and falters. 

I must keep my face always toward Jesus. He is my Rock and my Fortress and my strong Deliverer, my Shield and Help in time of need. 

Writing

I miss writing. I don't communicate as well when I stop writing. But that's not really the point. I miss it. It's been a large part of my life for several years.

I probably should have known that I wouldn't be able to write like I was used to, but it just never really occurred to me. I figured that writing was a good thing, a fun thing, a worth-while thing. It wasn't like playing video games or watching TV, where you don't really have anything to show for it at the end. It was productive, like crocheting.

I didn't realize that two years ago would be my last time participating in the National Novel Writing Month. I had to write for several hours every day for the majority of a month in order to do that. Never gonna happen with a kid, but, without really thinking it through, I had planned to take a year off and be back to it this time around.

There have been a few things like that, that I've realized I will probably never be able to do again. I don't regret having Evelynn - she's far and away more valuable than any book I could write. But it takes time to adjust. And often, it takes a little bit of grieving. So this past Monday, I grieved for my writing. I will miss it, but I miss lots of things.

Some of them have been very hard lately. I want so badly to spend a whole year in Michigan again. To experience all four seasons, each in their turn. I miss it all the time, but usually I keep it tucked away in the back. Lately, it doesn't want to stay there.

I miss Michigan. I miss my old people. I miss my family. I miss watching my sister grow up. I miss seeing my dad more than once every other month or so. I miss Fall, watching the maple trees change color, and Winter. I miss raking and shoveling. I miss playing the piano for church. I miss having my own place. I miss being alone for an extended period of time with my husband. I miss quiet. I miss running our household on OUR schedule.

And now I miss writing, too. I'll do it when I can, like we visit Michigan when we can, but just like the visits, it will probably never be enough to satisfy.

Sufficiency

I was lying in bed this morning for a few minutes before Evelynn woke up, enjoying the quiet, enjoying the fact that I've been getting a normal amount of sleep (coupled with a normal sleep schedule - waking up maybe once to make a bathroom run or get a drink of water instead of waking up several times). It's been amazing.

And I was thinking about what kind of advice I would give to someone who was entering motherhood. What would I tell about it? What part would I highlight? No one told me how hard it would be, so I thought that I would have to say that. But as I was thinking about that and how exhausted I've been and how my body has been drained of it's nutrients and things, something else occurred to me.

I cannot drain God. I cannot use Him up. Children can actually, literally use us up. We can be spent for their sake, physically, mentally, and emotionally. But as a child of God, I cannot use Him up. I can never take too much from Him; I can never exhaust Him. He will never snap at me. He will never make the wrong choice because He was too exhausted to think. He will never ignore me because He just can't deal with one more thing today.

There are already a lot of mistakes that I've made with Evelynn. Add another kid or two (or three or four, depending on what God gives to us) into the mix and I am beyond sure that I will be making several mistakes every day.

But it will never be too many. God is sufficient. He will never run out of love, mercy, grace, favor, loving-kindness, or joy. It will ALWAYS be there for the asking - even if I asked for and received some five seconds ago. It's overflowing from Him. I just have to go to Him for it.

Another thing I would tell a to-be mom - it's so worth it. It's beyond worth it. Children are so awesome, that despite all the havoc they make, despite all the exhaustion, despite all the hardships and pains and sorrows, they're a blessing. They're not just "worth it" - they're a blessing! Children are like Romans 8:18 here on Earth - "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." All the sufferings of the present time can't even be compared with the joy and the glory that is bound up in your kids.

Nutrition

If my last post sounded rather down, I think it should be noted that I was "off my meds." That is, I keep forgetting to take my vitamins and then I get exhausted and then I have a really hard time being my normal, happy self. I've been taking them again for the better part of the week and my outlook has improved dramatically. So, if you're talking to me and I sound rather "blah" for seemingly no good reason, please feel free to ask if I've been taking my vitamins regularly. (If I haven't, chances are I'll be like, 'Doh! I keep forgetting!') This is, I think, the third time it's happened that I've gotten out of the habit of taking them for one reason or another and thus gotten very exhausted as a result.

In other news, my mother-in-law found this website about getting pain relief without going to the doctor. It helped her. It has tons of stuff, and I think it might be worth checking out. It even has migraine-relief techniques.

http://www.do-it-yourself-joint-pain-relief.com/

So it's here for you to look up if you have joint pain, or a headache, or wake up with an injured back.

No One Told Me

I've been thinking about being a Mom a lot, about the things of which my life is composed, about the things I miss, and the feeling that I will never again have a minute or a day that doesn't have a schedule. (I like schedules. I really don't like being tied to one ALL THE TIME.)

And something keeps popping into my head. It goes something like this, "People told me about the pain of childbirth. People told me about the troubles of sleeping when you have a newborn. Why didn't anyone tell me that it doesn't get better?" No one told me about how absolutely, ridiculously difficult it is to have a kid. (Just the one! And as I understand it, she's fairly easy. (Yes, I really want a boy, but wow does it scare me.))

No one told me that every day becomes a battle and for those of us prone to depression, it's very easy to not have any fun at all and you realize it's been a week since you've genuinely felt happy for more than the ten seconds after someone told a joke. No one told me that I wouldn't want to sing anymore, that my basic disposition would change from being happy and energetic to being sad or blah. There are a lot of things that no one ever mentioned, not even in a generalized way.

Well, something occurred to me today. Maybe they didn't tell me because that's not the part that they care about anymore, not the part that lasts. Maybe that part gets overshadowed by the good stuff, by the joys of watching the little ones grow up and being a part of their lives. Maybe, in the end, it fades, just like the pain of childbirth and the exhaustion of sleep deprivation.

And that is a hopeful thought.

Overwhelming Love

I couldn't sleep last night, so my thoughts turned to upcoming days and the things that were scheduled to get done within the next few weeks. That means more shots for Evelynn. I hate shots. I hate seeing my little girl in pain, and I don't think it's a bad thing that I hate it. In my opinion, it doesn't matter if it's a tiny pain or a huge pain - I hate thinking of her being in pain.

And then my thoughts turned to God, to Jesus, to Calvary. God the Father bruised Jesus. It was not a chastisement. It was not to safeguard His well-being. It was to safeguard me; it was to redeem me. Jesus was not the only one who suffered that day. God the Father is not unfeeling or emotionless; He LOVES Jesus with a greater love than I could love Evelynn. But for the sake of His people, God smote Jesus. Jesus died for my sins; but God had to pour out His wrath on His beloved Son for my sins.

Jesus loves me, yes. Jesus took my sins. Jesus paid the cost.
The Father loves me, too. He sent Jesus to take my sins. He dealt the punishment out.

What wondrous love is this!