The Fear of the Lord

The fear of the Lord is reverence and awe for who He is and His ways. I’ve had much teaching in the Lord, and have served the Lord faithfully for years, but something deep within me was causing frustration and anguish. The Lord revealed that I’d unconsciously been looking for some of my basic needs to be met through sources other than Him.

God’s design was that we were all meant to feel loved, accepted, and valued, with a sense of belonging and worth, which gives us meaning and purpose in this life. These are the foundational building blocks we need so we can grow up in a healthy, balanced way.
But if those needs aren’t met when we’re growing up, it’s a natural response to feel driven to get them met in some other way. God never condemns us trying to get our needs met, but He wants us to understand that He’s the only one who can meet our needs. We’re ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’ and our spirit knows we should have all these things. That’s why we seek them.

In Jeremiah 2:14 it says “My people have committed two sins they have forsaken me, the spring of living water and have dug their own cisterns broken cisterns that cannot hold water”. We develop ways to get our basic needs met that were not God’s designed source, so they never satisfy us for long. They don’t quench our deep thirst to feel loved, accepted, and for a sense of belonging, value and worth.

We may hope our husband, wife, friend, work, or even our ministry, will meet our needs, but no human being or activities can fill the areas in our hearts which God was meant to fill. It’s only when we’re aware of how to get our needs met, that we can go to God and repent of our wrong dependency, and of going to the wrong source.

We’re not responsible for a lot of the ungodly things that happens to us, but we are responsible to God for the way we deal with what happens to us. When we realise we have been depending on the wrong source to get our needs met, we need to come before Him. We can’t hide anything from God. He’s waiting for us to come to Him with open hearts.

Prayer: Father God, we repent of our wrong dependency, and ask You to give us a heart that has reverence and awe of who You are. Help us to trust You, and be open before You so we can receive Your mercy and healing where we have wounds. Meet our needs where they were never met as You intended. Help us let go of the patterns of a lifetime and become more like You intended. For Jesus’ name sake. Amen.