FEAR GOD

Alright, I'll admit it. Arkansas isn't the most...open minded...state. It's an adjustment even for me, to get used to all the overwhelming religious bumper stickers, billboards, advertisements, etc. down here. Don't get me wrong, I love a good Bible verse, a good religious message, but sometimes I feel like Christians get a bad rap from over the top, extremists, who condemn everyone around them, not unlike the practices of Westboro Baptist Church, but I won't get into that.

The first time I went to Kanakuk in middle school, my counselor gave me a cup with a Bible verse to remember my experience by. I loved that cup. It was orange with silver writing on it with the verse Proverbs 31:30 on it. That passage states, "Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." As a 12 or 13 year old I didn't really understand it. I was supposed to fear God?

After that summer I continued to research the verse and this whole idea of 'fearing' God. I thought He was an all loving God. As I continued into high school, and last year while taking part in a Bible study, I grew to really understand it. It is saying fear in the sense of being in awe. God's work is beyond our knowledge and all we can do is be in awe of His great deeds.

Every once in a while here in Arkansas, or anywhere I guess, I am driving with a few girls in the car and we see bumper stickers that say "Fear God." Neither of the girls are practicing Christians, and view this phrase as an extreme thought, which I could agree with to an extent. Who knows if that driver means it in the way of Westboro Baptist Church does, thinking that most people are doomed to Hell, or if that driver is in agreement with Proverbs 31:30? Psalm 139:13-14 speaks of being "fearfully and wonderfully made." Anytime I think about the blessing a child is to their mother and father, you can't help but think of God's work, how does He do it? That's the fear God is looking for, being so in awe, so shocked by His ability. I just hope I can explain that to people who are against using the term "Fear God" or haven't ever heard it other than when the WBC uses it.