Fear What Matters

“It is the LORD of hosts whom you should regard as holy, and He shall be your fear, and He shall be your dread.” Isaiah 8:13

Fear What Matters

Fear – What you fear becomes your god.  In the twisted logic of human thought, the things that we fear the most become the driving forces behind our lives.  We actually serve and pay homage to our fears.

Studies of entrepreneurs show that the most common element behind their success is fear of failure.  Just a moment’s reflection will reveal the same thing about many of us.  If we fear aging, we do all we can to stay young.  If we fear financial collapse, we spend our time planning for security.  If we fear flying, we plan trips on the ground (or take medication).  Fears control us.  That’s why God says to Isaiah, “I alone should be your fear”.  It’s the equivalent of saying, “I am the only person who should control your actions and reactions.  Don’t serve any other fear.  Don’t tremble before (dread) anything else.”

God wants us to be free.  Can you imagine life free of all your fears?  Free of the worry about your children, your job, your home, your country?  Free of the worry about how you look, your health, your money, your relationships?  I think that’s what we call “stress free living”.  We all want it, but we usually look for it in the wrong places.  Instead of hearing what God says to Isaiah, we seek the answers in technology, science, medicine, education, accumulation or government protection.  We serve the gods of fear and the result is that we are more afraid than ever.

God says, “Fear me and me alone.”  Stop being controlled by all those other issues.  God is completely in charge of all that.  Serving Him means placing it all in His hand.  Serving Him means life directed, managed, operated and organized by Him.  And He is quite capable of handling the job.

Fear (and serve) what matters.  Be ruthless about the rest.