SHINE THE LIGHT
JESUS SHOWS US WHAT ‘DEEP FEAR’ LOOKS LIKE…
When we hear the phrase FEAR OF THE LORD, it can sound like God wants people to be scared of Him in the same way they might be scared of punishment, darkness, or failure. But that is not what we see in Jonah 1.
The sailors begin in terror of the storm, but by the end of the passage, something had changed within them. Their fear is no longer a panic about drowning and death. It becomes a response to WHO GOD IS. They begin to realise that the Lord is not just stronger than the storm – He is the God over the sea, the land, and their very existence and lives. Their fear shifts from chaos to reverence. From alarm to awe. From survival mode to worship.
And this is where Jesus helps us see the FEAR OF THE LORD most clearly.
Jesus never treated God casually. He never reduced His Father to a backup plan, a lucky charm, or a distant idea. Jesus lived with perfect reverence, perfect trust, and perfect surrender to God. Jesus shows us that the FEAR OF THE LORD is not about shrinking back from God – it is about seeing Him rightly and right-sizing His power, greatness and might in our lives. It’s the kind of awe that makes you bow, trust, listen, obey, and worship.
So DEEP FEAR does not operate with the mindset that God is scary, so stay away! No. Rather DEEP FEAR operates from the mindset that God is holy, glorious, sovereign, and good, so we need to give Him the awe and reverence due Him. We should not treat God lightly.
Because of Jesus, we do not come to God as strangers guessing what He is like. We come knowing that the holy God is also the saving God. The God who deserves our reverence is also the God who, in Christ, has come near to us, has walked with humanity, is accessible.
LOOK TO JESUS…
- Jesus shows us that the FEAR OF THE LORD is reverence, not mere panic
- Jesus lived in perfect awe, trust, obedience, and worship before the Father
- Jesus makes it possible for us to draw near to the holy God with both reverence and confidence.
REFLECT…
- Do I treat God with reverence, or mostly casual indifference?
- Is my view of God too small, too familiar, too shallow?
- What would change in my life if I truly saw God as holy, sovereign, and good?
- Do I FEAR THE LORD in a way that leads me to trust God and obey Him?
PRAYER…
Lord, grow in me a DEEP FEAR of You –
not panic that runs away, but a reverence that draws near.
Help me to see You as You really are: holy, sovereign, powerful, and good.
Jesus, teach me to worship the Father the way You did – with awe, trust, and surrender.
