Daily Devotional: 5/31/2018 - FEAR = TRUST

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Proverbs 9:10.

Growing up we are scared of so much. There are countless things that we can be scared of, the dark, the monsters the lived in our closest or under our beds, ghosts, homework, anything. As a kid there was always something more superior that we looked at that would give us comfort. We had a night light, dad checked in the closest and under the bed before we were able to sleep, our very own ghostbuster vacuum, mom  "helped" us with our homework. As you grow up your fears become more in depth and real. There are snakes, spiders, debt, wondering how much sleep we are going to get, snakes, college, plans, snakes, drowning, life, snakes (do not know if I mentioned that yet…), and relationship stuff. Even though we have grown  up there is still a superior figure that we lean on in the tough times and to help us with the things that scare us. This time it is bigger, bigger fears needs a bigger crutch, that crutch is God. God takes on everything for us. He is constantly helping and guiding us, he is always there wanting the best for us. God fills us with so many promises, the promises of love and protection. No matter how deep your fear is, whether its snakes or snakes (it is snakes I would not blame you, the devil came as a snake, that’s all I am saying), or no matter how big your obstacle is God can and will defeat and conquer it for you. There is one thing that no matter how old we get we will always fear, that is our parents. They have the scary power of making you shake in your boots no matter how old you get. They will make you scared no matter if you are 6 or 30. they scare you because you do not want to disappoint them, you do not ant them to get mad at you for making a stupid decision (something they probably told you not to do). Every mother (I know mine has said a good share of times) at least once has told their kid, "I brought you into this world and I will take you out." At times there is nothing scarier then watching my dad get mad (he gets mad like me, long fuse with a big blow). This is a cool, calm, collected man with the patience as long as can be, so when he gets mad you know you really got him mad. The same is for God, he is our Heavenly Father. He wants the best for us, he wants us to prosper, he loves us unconditionally, his patience stretches beyond imagination. This all like our worldly parents. He is all knowing and all powerful. God knows everything and has the power to do anything he wants to do. We should fear God. This is not a fear like the above fears, but it is a fear out of love. When we fear God we trust God. Psalm 31:8-14 says, "Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Fear the LORD, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." Genesis 20:11 says, "Abraham replied, 'I said to myself 'There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.'"  A little background to this story if you are not familiar with it, Abraham's wife Sarah was extremely beautiful and they were entering the region of the Negev and he feared that since Sarah was wedded to Abraham they would kill him for her name sake. Abraham was a man of God, and people knew it, so they would try not to harm Abraham for that reason. However, the Negev did not believe in God, so that is were the fear is based off of, the thought of "if they do not believe they do not care if they harm me or not." The irony is that Abraham did not trust God, but all this fear is based off of trust, and if you fear God you trust God. We fear God of out of love, the same way we fear our parents. You do not want to let God down and you do not want to disappoint him; you do not want to go against his will. Once we truly fear God, he will know we are in full submission. This is where everything falls into place, life will start to fall into place. We become wiser, we start to think twice before doing anything (What would Jesus do). We talk more with God in prayer. We talk to learn, vent, talk, and figure out his will for us; we are talking with our Dad. Fearing God is not like fearing the dark, fearing God is like fearing your parent. It is a fear based off of love and trust.

Lord, we fear you. When we fear we do not fear like we are scared of the shark that might be a hundred feet away from us, we fear out of trust and love. We do not want to disappoint, we do not want to let you down. We love you, you are our Heavenly Father, you gave us life. You literally brought us into this world, and you can take us out at any time. We thank you for that life and for that daily second chance. I pray that you continue to guide us in your will. In Jesus's name, Amen.

#LetsBeAMovement