Fear Only God
BRD REFLECTIONS:
Job 3 and Psalm 119:57-64 (NIV)
(Nij Mahendra, Chairman P&P Ministry)
READ:
The verses that stood out to me are Job 3: 25-26. “What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.”
OBSERVE:
Verses 25-26 speak about what Job had previously feared and dreaded, actually happened to him. This made me wonder why Job feared losing all these in the first place if he had only feared God.
Job was a man who was upright and blameless, and he feared God and shunned evil (Job 1:1). Yet he feared the loss of all the blessings that God had given to him. When it happened, his heart was in turmoil and understandably, he did not have any rest.
APPLY:
As I meditated on these verses, I asked myself these 2 questions. Do I fear losing the blessings that God has given me? Or would I only fear God and be totally at peace if blessings from Him were taken away?
After becoming a Christian, my main struggle was aligning my thinking and choices to obeying God in how I ran my business. This was a very difficult period because I lost many earthly things. But when I chose to do things God’s way, there was a sense of peace and joy that came upon my heart. The peace and joy I experienced were so wonderful that I made a deal with God to always leave them with me, no matter how tough life got. And God was very gracious – no matter how bad the storms in my life were, His peace and joy sustained me. I believe that it was the first stage in which I learnt to fear God alone.
About 7 to 8 years ago, I lost this sense of peace and joy and could not feel God’s presence for a period of time. I entered the dark night of the soul, and the inner anguish and turmoil was overwhelming. But as I came out of that period, I began to recognise that all these years, I was holding on to the peace and joy that He had given me. This realisation caused me to walk more intimately with Jesus and depend on Him, to hold on to the One who blesses rather than the blessings. This perspective set my heart and mind to be free from the cares of the world, including those of my aging body and the future of my family. I believe this is another key phase in surrendering to and fearing God.
Having been in seasons of surrendering my various fears to God, I have come to recognise that God simply does not want my heart to fear anything or anyone but Him alone.
DO:
I will remember that when the cares and concerns of this temporal world start to have a grip on me, I must pray, and constantly keep my trust in Jesus alone.
PRAY:
Father, I thank You for the lessons that You can teach me from the book of Job. Thank You that You are a good, good Father to me, that You love me and want the best for me. Help me to not just come to You for the blessings in this life but to simply come fully surrendered to You. Take away the fear from my heart that has a hold on me. Give me the courage to release all things and people that are dear to me to You, as I draw near and abide in You alone. Thank You for Your promise that perfect love casts out all fears. Set my heart free that I can come to a place to say that all is well with my soul. Amen.
