KNOWLEDGE OF THE HOLY ONE COVERS MY FEAR

I'm writing for Five Minute Friday and this week's prompt word is COVER.  

Lately I've had a few conversations with people about fear.

Fear is real 

Fear is a reality we all live with this side of heaven, in various forms, to various degrees.  

Fear is often paralysing and overwhelming.

Fear often covers us like a blanket and weighs us down.

It's often tied to a previous trauma or a negative mindset or expectation.

Fear is often bigger than the reality.

In any case, we all deal with fear on a regular basis and we don't always recognise it as fear.

I used to think I would get to a certain level of healing and not feel fear again.

I don't think that's going to happen this side of heaven, and that's okay.    

But how do I stop fear from being in control in my daily life?    That is the challenge because you conquer one set of fears and then another challenge comes and a new fear rises up and round you go again.   Feeling fear is one thing.   But letting it cover your thinking and your actions - that is when it's out of control.    My knowledge of Him has to grow to cover that fear.   

He's been speaking to me about the unbelief of His people as they came out of Egypt, heading for their promised land, their purpose, the fulfilment of all that God had promised them.    So many unknowns for them, and they were a people used to captivity and thinking like slaves.   

He came up with this amazing plan of redemption and a new life of abundance, and He showed up with the power to implement it, and yet they still didn't believe Him.   So often, we think we have to convince Him of His own good ideas.   He's the author and the finisher.  

But they just didn't get it.    They didn't know Him.    They were focused on what they'd come out of, not Who was calling them out or what He had in mind for them.    They saw His power for sure.   They saw His miracles.   But they didn't understand His goodness or His purpose for them or His heart for them.   That unbelief and slavery mindset covered them like a blanket.   An entire generation died in the desert, needlessly.    

And we too can walk around, weighed down, covered by a blanket of depression and cynicism and unbelief, borne out of our trauma, oppression, disappointments, grief, failure, etc.    It's so easy to do, to live under the cover of that darkness, thinking it's from Him.   It isn't.  He wants us to walk in the light.  The answer, from what I'm learning, is to let the fear of the Lord cover your other fears, like an umbrella.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and brings understanding, perspective, purpose and power to our situations.    It should be the overriding fear in our lives.   

What is the fear of the Lord?    It's not like other fear - it's reverence, awe, wonder, understanding, worship.

It's knowledge of the Holy One.   That right there is the key to not being controlled by other fears.   

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.   Prov 9:10

The fear of the Lord is a lot of things that I don't truly understand, and haven't fully grasped.    But I do know this much - it's recognising the greatness of God in both power and character.   He isn't just powerful, He's good.    He isn't just the creator of purpose - He is able to carry out His purpose in our lives.   

He is so many things which is why there are so many names to try and articulate all of who He is.   

On Thursday night, in our women's zoom prayer meeting, we touched on Jehovah Adonai - the One who pours Himself out to meet our needs.   

Jehovah Adonai gave the Aaronic blessing, and we need to seek the same from Him.

We need to live in the light of His countenance, as it says in Psalm 67, which He brings me back to often.  

God be merciful to us and bless us,

And cause His face to shine upon us, Selah

That Your way may be known on earth,

Your salvation among all nations.  Psalm 67:1,2  

We need to seek His face, intentionally, and to know Him so that our fear is covered by who He is.   

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek:

That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,

To behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.

For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion;

In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me;

He shall set me high upon a rock.   Psalm 27:1, 4-5

And we need to be covered by His love, like the world is covered by the light and warmth of the sun.    We need to seek after that light and warmth and goodness, like you seek after the sun on a winter's day. It's cold here now and it's hard to find the warmth so we intentionally seek heat and sunlight.     

We need to seek the warmth and light and life of His presence, intentionally, diligently, consistently, like our life depends on it, because it does.  And even more so when fear covers our minds and our eyes.   

He brings me back to these words from Psalm 36 often.   I need to intentionally bring every fear under the cover of who He is - all that I know of Him and the much, much more that I don't.   

Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens;

Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

Your righteousness is like the great mountains;

Your judgments are a great deep;

O Lord, You preserve man and beast.

How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!

Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.

They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,

And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.

For with You is the fountain of life;

In Your light we see light.  Psalm 36:5-9

This song is a good reminder that we can choose faith over fear, even when we feel fear.  

Every anxious thought that steals my breath

It's a heavy weight upon my chest

As I lie awake and wonder what the future will hold

Help me to remember that You're in control

You're my courage when I worry in the dead of night

You're my strength 'cause I'm not strong enough to win this fight

You are greater than the battle raging in my mind

I will trust You, Lord

I will fear no more

I will lift my eyes

I will lift my cares

Lay them in Your hands

I'll leave them there

When the wind and waves are coming

You shelter me

Even though I'm in the storm, the storm is not in me