Put The Fear of God in Me

¹³ ‘I am against you,’
declares the Lord Almighty.
‘I will burn up your chariots in smoke,
and the sword will devour your young lions.
I will leave you no prey on the earth.
The voices of your messengers
will no longer be heard.’

From the book of Nahum, Chapter 2:11-13

As I read this today, I was reminded of how terrifying it is to be the subject of God’s wrath.  After all, who else could wipe out the entire planet’s human and animal population (save the passengers of the Ark) with the same power of his word, which created the universe?  The passage in Nahum(above) reminded me that God is a mighty and fierce God.  He’s not some cosmic Santa Clause, as many religions (including some segments of Christianity) like to portray.  If we truly knew God, we’d be trembling in His presence.

And at the same time, this fierce, omnipotent God, who could level galaxies with a mere thought is equally loving, protective, and nurturing.  He would stop at nothing to save us (John 3:16-17)  If we truly knew God, we would so desire to be in His presence every day, though He could simply obliterate us with a word.

This reminds me of a scene from The Horse and His Boy from The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.  In it, Hwin, a talking horse meets Aslan for the first time ever.  To her, He is a terrifying, yet beautiful Lion.  She fully expects him to kill and make a meal of her.

Then Hwin, though shaking all over, gave a strange little neigh, and trotted across to the Lion.

“Please,” she said, “you’re so beautiful.  You may eat me if you like.  I’d sooner be eaten by you than fed by anyone else.”

“Dearest daughter, ” said Aslan, planting a lion’s kiss on her twitching, velvet nose, “I knew you would not be long in coming to me.  Joy shall be yours.”

Her response is what I imagine mine would be if I were to truly encounter God, face-to-face and see Him for who He is, not what I’ve made of Him.
I believe C.S. Lewis captured a most truthful glimpse of the Almighty and depicted in the character of Aslan.  Those who knew him explained to those who had just learned of him in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe:

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” 

If we truly knew God, His awesome power, His fierce lion-like wrath and terrifying anger against evil, we would quake at the very thought of His presence.  Likewise, if we truly knew His infinite love, his fiercely protective heart, His passion to redeem us and fulfill all we need and desire, we would thirst for him “as the hart panteth after the water brooks,” though we could be torn to shreds.

Have we become so familiar with God in our “culture” that He no longer draws from us awe and wonder?  Has God become a cosmic buddy, or life coach?  I fear that this might have happened in my life and I fall in the danger of esteeming him lightly, which is to say, dishonoring Him.  And how about the Church?  Has God ceased to strike a healthy and good sense of awe in its people?  What about our nation, our world?

In His point of view, “A thousand years are like a day.”  It has not been so long since people have seen Him and feared Him with reverence because of His mighty works.  And as Tumnus tells Lucy at the end of that The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe, when Aslan takes his leave:

“He’ll be coming and going” he had said. “One day you’ll see him and another you won’t. He doesn’t like being tied down–and of course he has other countries to attend to. It’s quite all right. He’ll often drop in. Only you mustn’t press him. He’s wild, you know. Not like a tame lion.”

It’s time for us to remember what an awesome God we have.  And learn the fear of Him.  Because “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”  And yet, we never have to be frightened of His wrath if we are truly humble because God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble.

And finally, we need not fear His judgment because we have one who is our advocate and intervenes on our behalf:

 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.  Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.  –Hebrews 4: 14-16

I’ve decided to “practice the presence of God” in my life by acknowledging my place before Him in all of creation, and to honor Him as the awesome Almighty God that I am blessed enough to call my Heavenly Father.