Day 34 - Faith is the fuel for fearing God for fearless living

Do Not Fear
Jdg 7:9-14 - That same night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp. And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance. When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp.”

I am not sure why God allows Gideon to hear what he does and gives him the grace that He shows here, but it is encouraging. We learn from the character of God that he is gracious, kind and gentle even in our humanly fears. Not that they are right or it is ever glorifying to God to fear, but in this case, he bends over backwards to fill Gideon with courage. Perhaps because God has twiddled the number down to 300, or to give him courage as a leader or just maybe because God has a sense of humor and delights in doing a miracle like this. Regardless, Gideon hears this and is filled with faith. Faith is fuel for fearless living. As Romans 10:17 says, "So faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ." Faith leads to courage and courage leads to action.

Fear God
Le 25:35-36 - “ ‘If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or a temporary resident, so he can continue to live among you. Do not take interest of any kind from him, but fear your God, so that your countryman may continue to live among you.

The fear of God should dictate how we treat the poor among us. God has given the command to not take interest among a poor countrymen and the reason you are to obey the command is because you fear God. Fear leads directly to obedience. This is true because we fear consequence and we know that God is just. Faith is also the fuel for fearing God. Faith leads to obedience and obedience leads to righteousness (rom 5:19), others praising God for your obedience (2 Cor 9:13) and our showing our love for God through our obedience(2 John 2.6). Fear is the end, but all of this starts with faith, and faith begins with the words of God.

Faith is the fuel for fearing God so you may live a fearless life. Allow the words of God to dwell richly in you so that you may hear and obey and rejoice.