No fear, but the Fear of God

A key to dealing with disasters

Catastrophes are piling up. The forces of naturestrike unpredictably. Collapse of the infrastructurewithout roads, without water, without electricity - homeless, traumatized, orphans,widows, destroyed livelihoods are among the consequences. Often it hits the poorest countries.

But even the "rich" are not left out. Catastrophes also occur in areaswhere up to now no one was quite sure thatsomething like this could happen "to us"! But it does happen. Every day you can hear and read about it: A continuedecosystem of devastation - an increase of pollution,climate change and much more. International conferences are announced - to make up for decades of neglect.But the question of guilt remains unanswered.

At the same time, tremendous progress has been made. An unprecedented informationnetwork is shrinking the nations into a "villagecommunity". In the Western world, an unprecedented autonomy to redefine one's personal life.The natural identityof husband and wife, father and mother, is declared an option, and sexual identity can be defined according to one's own wishes. Whether children are wanted or not wanted - whether they are conceived naturally or conceived "in vitro" - used for consumptive embryo research - bornor not born - almost everything is subject to human control....

Itis striking that despite all thescientific progress, one area remainsexcluded: Theweather cannot bebrought under control.Whether Godreservesthis area to makeus thinkthat in themidst of the successes of man, who has become autonomous,the outcry of conscience isalmost consistently missing.

The Ten Commandments from Sinaihave been largely abolished, and the conscience has become accustomed to reacting.

If we do not silence our conscience completely, it will perhaps show us connections in thehardships that ariseand remind us of the commandment"Thou shalt notkill." This commandment is not only violatedmillions of times, but killing is often even declared to be a human right. And we all experience the misery and heartache it brings to leave the Lord, our God, and not to Fear Him (cf.(cf. Jer. 2:19). The law of sowing and reaping remains. And we will see the harvest before our eyes,when we have to witness and suffer more and more death  and destruction.

On this subject, Mother Basilea Schlink, founder of the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary -Years ago wrote something thatcould now become a new pastoral help.:

God is waiting for our fear of natural disasters to turn into Fear of God, in the fear of the Eternal, whose creatures we are. Whether already affected or not yet - we must all be seized and shaken by God's holiness. Then, we will no longer be afraid of death, sufferingand losses, but of Him and His wrath, and we willmeet the Almighty with reverence.

Where is your reverence? This isGod's existential question to us in this time. The command to Fear God runs through all the books of the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments.

He is great and almighty! One would like to flee before this majesty, this omnipotence, which rules the earth circle. He is the immortal God - He, who is and was and remains from eternity to eternity. But all men must die, also the mighty ones of the Earth and the founders and founding fathers of the religions. God alone has power and authority over death and life, over the whole universe. He created everything that lives, from the smallest flower to man to the cosmos, it is all the work of His hands.

Full of awe, the Psalms describe God's greatness :

Lord God of hosts, who is like You? Mighty are You, Lord, and Your faithfulness is around You.
You rule over the turbulent sea, You still its waves when they rise.
Heaven and Earth are Yours, You have founded the World and all that is in it.

You have a mighty arm, strong is Your hand, and high is Your right hand.
Righteousness and judgment are Your throne's support, mercy and faithfulness go before You.
Ps. 89:9-10, 12-15.

God testifies to Himself through His servant Moses :

Behold now that I alone Am, and there is no God beside me! I can kill and bring to life, I can strike and I can heal, and there is none to deliver out of My hand. Deut. 32:39

The heavens are filled with the praise of His glory. There is no end to the worship around His throne.

Lord our God, You are worthy to receive praise and glory and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they were created. Praise and honor and wisdom and thanksgiving and glory and power and strength be to our God forever and ever! Amen. Rev. 4:11; 7:12

What a God is our God! He is incomparable. The universe is subject to Him - the Earth is the footstool of His feet, nothing more (Is. 66,1). Should we not be afraid of this mighty God? If we can't help but fall to the ground before His greatness, then grace happens to us and the Fear of the Lord is born in our hearts.

It is not enough to know in the Bible and to recognize with the mind that God lives. No, we must grasp Him with our whole being and have the right attitude of heart toward Him.

Everything for us depends on whether we spend our lives in the Fear of God. Therein lies our salvation for time and eternity, especially now in the end times when suffering will soon overtake us. The Lord shows us this quite clearly in Revelation 14:6-7. An everlasting gospel is to be preached to all who dwell on earth - to all nations, tribes and tongues and peoples:

Fear God and give Him glory, for the hour of His judgment has come!
And worship Him who made heaven and earth and sea and the springs of water!

This is the gospel that God has us to proclaim to our generation today! We are to fear Him and give Him glory, even before His final judgments come. For only as God-fearers can we stand before God. As soon as we rebel against the hard things he sends us, we open the door to Satan, God's adversary. Satan, the adversary of God. He is a rebel from the beginning and wants to also tempt us into rebellion.

The Fear of God must be sought at all costs. We Christians have often completely forgotten this, and the message of cheap grace has made many safe. Do we still tremble at the thought that one day we will have to stand before The Almighty, Great God, who is our Judge and before whose Eyes all our sins are revealed?

When He warns us it is out of Love, because He wants to prevent us from being judged for time and eternity. How immeasurable this Love is, it has been proven before heaven and hell, when God gave His only begotten Son for us (Joh. 3,16), so that we "all through Faith may become children of God in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3,26) - His children, whom He Loves dearly and therefore wants to save.

Yes, God's power and greatness belong together with His Love, which is His very essence. When we bow down before God the Father and draw near to Him, calling upon Him through our Lord Jesus Christ, we experience His incomprehensible Love and faithfulness. It must be balanced, so to speak, that we as sinners lie deeply bowed before the Holy God and at the same time we come to the Father God as loving and trusting children of the Father. The one cannot be separated from the other, because in God Himself Holiness and Mercy merge. His glory, His justice and majesty, His omnipotence and greatness are united with His grace, patience, faithfulness, goodness and His Fatherly love, which is inclined towards us.

To the true, healthy and intimate relationship of the soul to God belongs this tension of Fear of God and the filial state. The NewTestament tells us both to be humble and to Fear the Most High,because "It is terrible to fall into the hands of the livingGod"(Heb 10:31)- and withlove and honor for our Father, we as His children come to him with Loveand honor Him as His children, and we come to Him with everything, we obey Him and trust Him without limits, as it is written"For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!"(Rom 8:15)

When we have found this relationship with God we shall make the blessed discovery that we will no longer shun sin as servants forfear of punishment - we hate and shun it out of Fear of God -weavoid it for fear of offending God, whom we Love so much. If we have truly recognized God as the almighty Lord and loving Father,we are in the right attitude of heart:

Who is like God !
I am nothing -
but I am His child !

In the midst of the hardships and conflicts of our life, God wants to meet us anew. He has an offer of help and rescue for us in all our sufferings. InScripture we find clear statements  forwhat is at stake in this hour of the world. Forthe only thing that is stable on ourEarth is the Word of God. Whoever therefore wants to be wise will take their stand on theWord of Godand define it from there. The fear of belonging to the mocked fundamentalists should not keep usfrom doing so. Then we will be unshakable andunwavering in times of great upheaval.

In the following Bible verses we can see something of God's holiness and mercy, which we encounter. Hismercy, which wants to meet us in the midst ofnatural disasters.

The Lord looks down from heaven to the earthto see if anyone is wise and asks about God. But they have all gone astrayand are all corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.Ps. 14:2-3

They let nothing be said to them and see nothing they grope along in the darkness. Therefore
all the foundations of the Earth are shaking.Ps. 82.5

When my time has come, I will judge rightly. The earth may shake,
and all who dwell on it, but I will hold firm its pillars.Ps. 75,3-4

We wait for you, O'Lord, also we wait in the way of Your judgments. - For when Yourjudgments pass over the earth,the inhabitants of the Earth learn justice.
From Isa. 26,8-9

Have mercy on me, O'God, have mercy on me ! For in You my soul trusts, and under theshadow of your wings I have refuge, until the misfortune passes.Ps. 57,2

The most important thing for us will be to belong in Truth to "His people" - to those who are fascinated by Him,who live their lives according to Hisstandards, who allow themselves to be corrected and and set right. Therefore, ourmain prayer should be:Lord, become my everything and awaken my dulled conscience, so that I maysee what separates me from You. Show me what issin in my life - so that I may receive newforgiveness and live in Truth from Your mercy.

From the scripture, "No fear, but the Fear of God" with excerpts from:
WHEN GOD LEAVES HIS SILENCE, by M. Basilea Schlink
Introduction and conclusion by Sister Joela Krüger

The brochure can be obtained from our publisher.