#FEARLESS365 is a yearlong study of God’s commandment to us to live without fear. For 365 days, we will focus on one scripture and volunteers from all over the world will share their personal thoughts and what God has shared with them on the specific verse. For more info… go here.
“Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have not been true to me, and have neither remembered me nor taken this to heart? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear me?
Isaiah 57:11
In Isaiah 57:11, God directs two straight-forward questions to the Israelites.
“…I’ve been silent for a long time. Is that why you don’t fear me?” An honest answer to that question would have required an admission that perhaps His patience and loving-kindness toward the Israelites’ wayward hearts had diminished their fear of Him.
The question at the beginning of the verse gave me pause when I read it most recently; “Whom did you dread and fear so much that you lied to me?…” Another honest answer would necessitate naming who or what was receiving the allegiance that was meant to belong to God.
The Israelites were not only refusing to bless God with the fear He was deserving of, they were fearing someone else instead! They did not stop at taking God Almighty off of His throne. They went a step further and put someone else there!
Although the thought-provoking questions were directed to the Israelites long ago, they also apply to us today. Sincere self-reflection will require me to ask myself: 1. Do I ever take His unmatched power and majesty for granted? 2. Do I ever misdirect the awe only God is deserving of toward someone or something else?
How quickly the busyness of my life and this world cause me to lose focus and fail to respond to Him with the reverence that is due Him. How quickly the mercy He grants me causes me to forget just how awe-inspiring He is!
My desire is that this verse will compel me to make a conscious, daily effort to guard against minimizing and misplacing my holy fear of God.
May our earnest prayer be to see God for who He truly is, to worship Him with wonder, and to never allow ourselves to fear anyone or anything else in place of our loving, merciful, and awe-inspiring God.
Gwen Thielges is a Blogger/Author lives in LaMoure, ND. She has wrote a Devotional called “All In For Him: Twenty-One Devotions for College Athletes.” She is a soon to be a grandma for the first time!
Defying Shadows 