The falling rain outside my office reflects the gloominess I feel today. It’s just one of those melancholy days that many of us experience from time to time under the weight of living in today’s world.
Through the struggles of my past, I have learned the value of clinging to God’s Word when the cares of this world threaten to undo me. During such times, I discovered a surprising source of comfort for my fears, as Paul David Tripp, in his book New Morning Mercies, describes below:
I am deeply persuaded that the only solution to fear is fear. In other words, fear is defeated only by a bigger, greater fear. Here’s what I mean. When the fear of God overwhelms and controls your heart, it protects you from the paralyzing and debilitating fear of other things. It’s only when God looms hugely larger than anything you could ever face in this fallen world that your heart is able to experience peace even when you don’t understand what is happening (and you don’t have the power to solve it if you did).[1]
What follows is not a step-by-step prescription, but rather an explanation of how a proper understanding of the fear of the Lord calms troubled hearts.
The Fear of the Lord Teaches Us to Run to the Father
When anxieties bubble up inside us, our natural tendency is to run away from the Lord and deal with the feelings in our own strength. The fear of the Lord, however, teaches us to run to our Father in Heaven during such times. Author and psychologist Dr. Dan Allender explains the value of running to Him when we experience fear:
Where do we cross the line from a legitimate fear of a dangerous world to a fear that not only imprisons us but also offends God?
It has to do with what or whom we fear. And where does that fear drive us? Does it drive us to protect ourselves, or does it drive us to God, our Protector?...
Oddly, it is the fear of the world that drives us away from God. Fear of God strips away all other fears and compels us to deal with God, transcendent and infinitely higher than any mere mortal fear. Fear of God roots us not in our problems, but in the essence of existence.[2]
The words of Proverbs 18:10 come to mind in this regard, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.” It’s in His strength that we find the courage to face our troubles and battle the devil, the one who tempts us to cower in fright rather than deal with the fears that seem to threaten our wellbeing and future.
Why do we find relief by running to Him when besieged with fears? It has to do with resting in the comfort that comes from knowing that He not only cares deeply for us, but also has our best interests at heart regardless of what tomorrow holds for us.
The Fear of the Lord Teaches Us to Rest in His Great Love for Us
Throughout the Psalms and Proverbs, there’s an unexpected parallel between fearing the Lord and resting in His great love for us. We see this connection in Psalm 147:11, “The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.” Here the Psalmist equates fearing the Lord with finding comfort in His “steadfast love.” The fear of the Lord is much different than we might expect; it doesn’t keep us away from the Father. Instead, it draws us to Him as it reminds us of His unfailing compassion toward us.
I have often made the dark times of my life much, much worse by doubting God’s love for me. Rather than rest in His love for me, I’ve attempted to shoulder the burden myself rather than follow the advice of 1 Peter 5:7, that of “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” This verse is frequently a key part of my battle against anxious feelings.
When troubles generate pangs of fear within me, my first instinct is to think that God no longer cares for me. However, I have discovered that when I run to the Lord and dive into His Word, I find the needed refuge in knowing that He cares deeply for me.
When troubles arise, the devil will tell you it’s all your fault and that God no longer cares about what happens to you in this life. Don’t listen to his lies: trust the words of Scripture.
The Fear of the Lord Acknowledges God’s Sovereignty
If anything exposes the existence of a lingering selfish agenda within me, it’s how I respond to a threat or injustice toward me or others. When anger and fear, both sides of the same coin, begin to make their presence known withing me, I soon realize that it stems from my desire for things to go my way rather than submit to what the Lord might have for me.
Dr. Dan Allender again provides this helpful insight that never fails to bring relief to my soul when fears stem from my inability to make life work the way I want it to (please carefully read these words):
Fear is flight away from harm. It is the product of helplessness, weakness brought about by a feeling of inadequacy and lack of control. If we demand control and success, we will be destroyed, because in a sinful world our weaknesses will continually be exposed. But if we submit to God instead of demanding control, and serve God instead of insisting on success, then we will be changed, and our fears will dissipate. God’s sovereignty is the ultimate issue as we face this choice. If we clutch desperately for success and control, we deny His power. If we exercise the privilege of submission and service, we acknowledge it.[3]
I’ve lost count of how many times, in the middle of the night, I have found relief by realizing my need to step away from demanding “control and success” and place everything in the Lord’s hand. Trusting God’s sovereignty in the midst of what I’m going through has calmed my troubled heart on many occasions.
Submitting our aspirations to the Lord while continuing to serve Him is not about giving up on them, but it’s rather a matter of placing our future in the hands of the One who will surely reward our work for Him (regardless of perceived earthly success) when He appears to take us home to glory (1 Corinthians 15:58).
The Fear of the Lord Shifts Our Attention to Eternity
The fear of the Lord teaches us to fix our dearest aspirations on eternal matters rather than on the fleeting and temporal realities of this world. I have found that the realization that this world is not my home, more often than not, brings a sense of inner peace. My expectation of Jesus’ imminent appearing refocuses my agenda to what lies ahead for me in glory rather than on what I can accomplish in here below.
Of course, it’s wise to set goals and plan for the future, but we must do so with an eternal perspective (see 2 Corinthians 4:17–18). Our hope of eternity teaches us to hold the aspirations for our future loosely in our hands and hold tight to the promises of the hereafter found in God’s Word.
For me, defending the pre-Tribulation Rapture is so much more than defending a biblically sound doctrine, so much more. So many times, in the middle of the night, my expectation of Jesus’ imminent appearing brings sweet relief by reminding me of the glory ahead for me in the not-too-distant future.
I will continue to defend what the Bible says about the Rapture because for me, it’s a precious anticipation of what the Lord promises to all of us at His return to take us home to the place He’s preparing for us. Is it any wonder that the devil despises and vehemently opposes this teaching?
The rain outside my office has stopped, at least momentarily, and so have the melancholy feelings that accompanied it. When they return, I will again run to the Father and bask in His eternal love for me.
The Triumph of the Redeemed is available on Amazon. Please consider purchasing it if you have not already done so. If you know a believer who’s struggling with anxiety or even PTSD, feel free to share my book with him or her as appropriate.
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[1] Paul David Tripp, New Morning Mercies (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014), August 26.
[2] Dan B. Allender and Tremper Longman III, The Cry of the Soul (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1994), p. 98.
[3] Ibid., p. 103.