No Fear?

I was reading in Isaiah this morning, and this verse stood out to me in a big way:


Isa 29:13 "Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men..."

I have grown up hearing about how amazingly powerful and holy God is. The reverential fear of God is an often preached subject, and it should be, but the question that I have to ask myself is: "Is my fear of God a mental assent to what I have been taught, or is it from my personal experience of His majesty?"

The problem with the Israelites being warned in this passage was not that they were not religious or even moral. They adhered to the Scriptures, they revered the Word of God, but it was all superficial. They had no personal experience with God, only a powerless form of godliness!

I think that a pretty accurate gauge of where our fear, or respect, originates from is:

1) Are we submitted?
When God really shows up on the scene, the reaction is always acknowledging Him as Lord. When confronted by the risen Christ, Paul exclaimed, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" A fear of God stemming from personal encounters with Him is incompatible with a rebellious heart.

2) Are we broken?
When Isaiah saw the glory of the Lord, he said, "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."

Moses' reaction was the same in presence: "Who am I??" He knew that he was less than nothing beside a Holy God.

When we really know who He is, in all His holiness, in all His power and grandeur, how could we be anything but broken over how we fail Him constantly? We should not dwell on past sins, but when we recognize an area where we fail, what is our reaction? I know that too many times my attitude has been, "well, God will forgive me, it's OK" That attitude shows only a weak fear of God taught only by precepts and not personal experience.

3) Are we serving?
After God declared Isaiah forgiven and cleansed, He posed a question: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?.." Isaiah's reaction was instantaneous: "I will go, send me!"

A real experiential fear of God can have lead to only one reaction when given the opportunity and privilege to serve God: Here am I!!! Use me any way you see fit, You are God alone. When I have no desire to serve Him, I know I have forgotten who He really is.


Paul's desire for the church at Corinth was,
"That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

Where does your fear come from? Where does your faith stand?