It’s a different kind of fear to fear the Lord. Not the type of fear that will cause you to run away, but a fear that will cause you to run to Him and stand unmoved.
There is a fear that will make you fearless. Many of God’s saints have gone through times that shook them with such terrible fright they felt paralyzed. These times usually involve getting a glimpse of the holiness of God. Like Isaiah, we tremble and come undone, but it is during those times we learn that Christ is everything. When we understand the wrath our sins deserve, these dark nights have a way of breaking all that encumbers the heart and turns its focus to the only one who can save us. These are the times of spiritual depression when we look and see our sinful hearts in all their depravity. It is here where the fear of God takes on a whole new meaning. When we go through a time like this, there is nothing that we will not surrender to God because we finally see how hopeless we are without His grace and mercy. It is in these times that we offer our boldest prayers. We are willing to cry, “Lord, take everything from me if I am not in your will; my reputation, my job, even my family if necessary. There is only one thing that will pull me from this pit, and that is to know I am right with you.” Spurgeon said, “If a man is in this position, you can lay the wealth of India at his feet, and he’ll say, ‘take it away, what use is that to me.’”
When a person goes through a time like this and comes out on the other side, it changes them, and many times, the Lord left everything intact, the reputation, the job, and the family, but at the same time, He has taken it from him. The fears that once tormented are gone because they now understand the greatest truth; without Christ, we have nothing, and with Him, we have everything. They also learn that they belong to Him, and even when it seems He is against them, He is for them. This newly found freedom emboldens the man to do and say things that he once could not because of his fears. It gives him the ability to take a stand for Christ no matter what the cost.
