I may “fear” spiders – may even have arachnophobia (I don’t really, just an example). And that is s fear that makes me run. I also “fear” the great mountains like the Alps and the Rockies. I grew up in a place where “mountain” means “big hill,” so to see mountains so tall that trees stop growing near the top, is quite a humbling and “fearful” experience for me.

Now, I don’t turn tail and run when I see the mountains at a distance. I drive closer. Neither do I drive to the top and run out over the steep cliffs. I have a healthy respect of the mountain – I’ve been caught in a storm up on one, and don’t want to live through that again.

My fear of the mountains is the kind of fear that draws me closer – wonder, awe, aodration. It’s the kind of fear that makes me be careaful – those mountains are dangerous, and they’re a LOT bigger than me. Do we have that kind of God? Or is he just our good buddy?

My fear of spiders is the kind of fear we’re admonished not to have. After all, if the shepherds had such a fright from seeing the angels that they took off across the countryside, they would not have been the first to hear the Gospel. “Fear not – don’t run away, don’t be so sccared that you miss what is here.”

Are we so afraid of God that we miss what’s in store for us? Are we so busy trying to walk on eggshells around the “holy and righteous judge” who’s just waiting to zap us if we mess up, that we miss out on a real relationship with us?

We can live in respectful fear, without cowering from every threat.