Which Fear

Fear is of the devil, it robs a person of peace and of joy, both of which are fruits of the Holy Spirit. Often non Christians (and even Christians) get confused when there is talk of the need for us to have a 'fear of the Lord', but this is not meaning in the same way at all. This is to be a reverential awe, not a timidity, in fact, in Hebrews 4:16 we are told we are to come boldly before God's throne of grace.

WHICH FEAR

Fear grips the heart and makes the strong man weak,

For this is not the Godly fear of which the prophets speak,

Fear of the Lord, is reverential awe,

A pure emotion, which we were created for.

Fear of the Lord, is tempered by the knowledge of His love,

A knowledge which controls our every thought, as the hand controls a glove,

And thus it stops this fear becoming one of dread,

But works it out, as reverential wonderment instead.

Love casts out fear, as Jesus casts out ill,

The power of His love is stronger still

Than any demon who would plan attack;

When Love steps in, then satan must shrink back.

He comes in shouting with his fear and hate,

Yet when the Lord’s in residence, he can but shake the gate;

Though he may roar and rattle at the bars,

He’s quickly brought to silence, when Jesus shows His scars.

God’s love was poured on satan’s fiery hate,

Now he can only threaten, scowl and wait –

For us to listen, and to give him heed;

Hear his malicious lies, and on them feed.

For he can say whatever he would choose,

He cannot cause that God’s love, we should lose;

But he can fill our ears so full of woe,

We lose our hold on things we really know.

The time has come when each must watch his brother’s back,

Must know when one is under, the enemy’s attack,

Must learn to pour out love, not stern rebuke,

As bold as fiery Peter, with the healing hand of Luke.

Love does not threaten, nor increase the fear,

Love lets one know, since God is love, that surely God is near;

For love can be absorbed by young or old,

Sipped at by the timid, and gulped down by the bold.

Sharp words can break the timid’s slender thread,

And make a bold one’s hackles rise, instead

Of bringing peace, they cause more strife,

They take us nearer death and further from true life.

Christ came to give us life, in fullest measure,

And in this life, His love’s our greatest treasure,

It cast out fear and sorrow, banished guilt and dread,

He is the Word, and He is love, His word’s our daily bread.

So say, is your heart enshackled by fear?

Bowed down by its sin and its shame?

Then come to the Saviour, the One I hold dear,

Come and be free in His Name.

For His Name, it has power, beyond any chain,

His Blood it has set us all free,

He offers forgiveness again and again,

And His children, forever we’ll be.

We don’t have to be holy before we draw near,

We don’t need to have ‘put it all right’,

We don’t need, somehow, to get rid of our fear,

It was done by His power, His fight.

We have only to come, and succumb to His love,

To trust in the peace that He’ll give,

And He’ll raise our spirits, to reign up above,

And fill us with joy as we live.

© Ailsa Yates 14-16/1/01