What do you fear?

Psalm 34:7 says, "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them." This verse came alive to me while I was in Honduras, after our house had been robbed and a death threat written on the wall. I took comfort in reading that God Himself was setting up camp around me to deliver me from the dangers surrounding me (see this brief explanation for the meaning of "the angel of the Lord").

The condition given in this verse for God's presence around us is that we fear Him. This word "fear" includes the ideas of respect, reverence, and awe, but also an acknowledgement that God is more powerful than we and has the power to save or destroy us. God is the only force that we should fear, but every one of us has other fears...

When I acknowledge that anxiety is a force more powerful than I and fail to recognize that the Spirit in me is even more powerful, what I'm doing is allowing anxiety to also set up camp in my territory. I do the same when I hold the approval of people in higher esteem than the approval of God, or when I fear death more than I fear the One who holds the keys to death.

Every sin and fear that we struggle with is something that we have given permission to set up camp in our lives because we lose the perspective that God is more fearsome than any of these things.

The solution to this problem is found in the same Psalm, verse 4: Seek the Lord, and He will answer you; He will deliver you from all your fears.

When anger overcomes you, don't seek your own ability to control the situation - seek the only One who can give you true joy and peace. When you fail to meet the expectations of another, don't resort to defending yourself and failing to take responsibility, or the other extreme of defining yourself by your failures. Seek the One who's got your back and holds you up with His right hand.

Thank You, Lord, that because I fear You, You encamp around me to guard and protect me. Teach me to fear You only.