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Fear and Trembling

by Jerry Ousley  
1/09/2015 / Christian Living

When I think about these words, "fear and trembling" the first thing that comes to mind is the incident in Daniel with King Belshazzar. He had inherited his father's throne in Babylon but did not inherit his father's respect for the God of Daniel. In a drunken feast he had taken the golden vessels that had once been a part of the temple worship back in Jerusalem, and not only used them in his party but actually made toasts to other false gods with them. That's when fingers of a man's hand appeared from nowhere and began to write on the wall. The Bible doesn't say how large they were but I've always imagined them to be giant fingers. It had to be something that would demand notice from all those people. It was scary enough to Belshazzar that the Bible tells us his fear made him shake to the point that his knees were knocking against themselves.

I know what it feels like to be so scared that your body shakes. I've never really been a fighter. As a teenager I made my boasts like most teenagers do. I've stomped and snorted like an angry bull. But I've also been in some situations where the adrenaline was flowing so freely it made my body shake hard enough that I felt like a gallon of paint on one of those mixing machines! There have also been times, especially early in my ministry that I was really glad that I was standing behind a pulpit; that way the folks out in the congregation couldn't see the involuntary dance that was taking place with my own knees. I always wondered why most churches used pulpits. I found out and was glad for it!

Job knew what it was like. In the book that bears his name it says, "Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake" (Job 4:14). Paul knew what it was like. He wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:3 "I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling." In Psalm 2:11 we are told, "Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling." And finally in Philippians 2:12 it says, "Therefore my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." I've heard a lot of people use this verse to justify their actions but most of the time the leave out the first part and especially the part about the "fear and trembling."

This is the next thing we need to consider when talking about being a successful Christian with the right attitude. We need to know something about this "fear and trembling" thing. I've thought a lot about that over the years. Particularly I am reminded of the Israeli people at the foot of Mount Sinai where God appeared at the top of the mountain in the form of fire and smoke. We are told in Exodus that He actually spoke with a thunderous voice not just to Moses but to all the people. It scared them so much that they asked Moses to ask God not to do that anymore. What a tragedy! Then again in the book of Job we read of his boasts as to what he would say to God if the Almighty would grant him an audience. But when God appeared to him in the form of the whirlwind Job was so awestruck that all he could manage to do was to fall down before Him and repent.

I've thought a lot about this over the years. We talk about a God of love, and He is that. We speak of His gentleness and in His ultimate might and power He is gentle as well. So how does this tenderness fit in with a God who demands fear and trembling? We could sum that up in the word "respect." You see, as an example of what I mean, I am afraid of my wife. I am afraid to hurt her. I am afraid that I won't please her. But am I in fear that if I don't please her she is going to do something awful to me? No - not at all; she isn't some mean and terrible ogre that will bite my head off if I don't do what she wants. My fear comes not in terror but out of respect. I love her and respect her and so I want to please her.

God is an almighty powerful force. We should fear Him. We should tremble at His presence, and I think anyone would. But we are not scared of God. We aren't terrified by Him. But we do respect Him so much that we want to please Him. That's what our fear and trembling should stem from. It's okay to shake at the presence of God because we love and respect Him so much. So, let the shaking begin

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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