Fear the Lord

And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.   Exodus 14.31

I want to ‘fear’ God in reverential awe and in deep trust, committing fully to His will as revealed in His word – whether written in the Holy Scriptures or conveyed to me by other means. Reverence of God is part of my worship of Him. Maybe here is another of the “mysteries” of God, for while I hold him in reverential wonder He is also freely and lovingly accessible to me as a heavenly Dad.

The Israelites feared God after seeing the most amazing display of His power against the Egyptians. I know that God is all-powerful, and I do not ever want to doubt that He can do anything. But I want to know an awe and reverential trust in him that is not dependent upon the manifestation of His power.

He is my Lord and my God. He has formulated a plan for my life which may involve the realisation of certain purposes. What these are depend entirely on His will and not on my fancy or ambition. This is how I want to trust Him, seeking His will for my life and not contriving to present my wants and wishes as His will and, indeed, convincing myself in the process that this is so.

I sense contentment growing for me and in me. Paul knew a contentment in all circumstances. I, like many humans, have struggled with the “doing” aspect of being a Christian. Furthermore, as a minister, I have secretly desired that my ministry would be so ordained and blessed by God that its effects would be enormous, and enormously satisfying (to me). I am coming to a place of letting go of this. I don’t know if I’m quite there yet, but I pray to God to lead me further until all of my fleshly desire is gone and I can truly say to Him, “Not what I want, but what You want.”

Lord God,

I come before You with respect and honour for Your sovereign being.

My humble petition is for a growing reverential trust to rise up in me for You and for all that is in Your will for me. My earnest desire is to serve You, but if this desire that consumes me is not in Your full and perfect will for me then I ask You to demolish and remove it, replacing it with the simplest trust in You.

I crave deeper relationship with You. I dare to come close and invite You to draw me closer still. If the rest of my life in this earthly realm consists of waiting upon you and doing nothing that is not specifically, and clearly, Holy Spirit led, then I am content.

I ask that You increase this wonderful sense of contentment that I am beginning to experience. I rejoice in the true sensing of it, for it feels like a very real expression of confidence in You. Yes, that’s it! Lord, please grow and expand my confidence in You. This is not about me, but all about You. There is nothing complaisant about this sense of contentment. Rather it is akin to “coming home”, to finding that right place of rest in security.

Lord God, my full and only security is in You. I surrender all that I am and all that I might ever hope to be to You. Yours is the way I want to go. Yours is the voice I want to hear, calling me and guiding me.

Speak to me, Lord. I have actions in my diary and in my mind for today. I lay them all before You. I wait upon You. Speak to me and lead me. Your way is my way.

I love you, Lord. Receive my love. Draw me to you, closer and closer, in Jesus’ Name I ask.                                                                                                                                       Amen.