Although many people have a fear of public speaking, I don’t know of anyone who, at one time or another did not fear their mortality. Fear invades our lives in the form of simple anxieties or complex phobias causing complete debilitation. I have observed “scrambled eggs on the ceiling” fear during white knuckle transatlantic flights as well as horror in a young Marine’s eyes who has just received his next orders. Unfortunately, the reason so many people are paralyzed by this emotion is that they are not able to differentiate what is worthy of terror and what is not. Because of that inability, one of the saddest states of fear exists today in the fear of success. I have seen it rob friends and family members of the potential Father God graced them with.
We don’t use the word fear much today because most of us don’t want to admit we feel this emotion — especially guys. It’s just not cool. We seem to have embraced the concept of “being afraid” that has a plethora of meanings including being filled with apprehension, regret, unhappiness, or reluctance. That softens the edges and makes it more acceptable because it seems to isolate the feeling to an event rather than a state of mind. The truth is that fear is a crucial emotion providing us the capacity to protect ourselves from anything that can harm or destroy our lives. However, very few circumstances in life should carry that significance. For example, garter snakes hold no potential for death, yet I know of a person who was hospitalized from a “face to face” meeting with one!
The two predominant OT words used for fear are Yare’ (respect) and Yir’ah (terror). Both are translated “fear” despite the difference in meaning. After I did a study of the words surrounding fear in Psalms and Proverbs, I noticed distinct differences in Deity’s view of Yare’ and Yir’ah.
(Yare’) Respect causes or brings about: (Yir’ah) Terror causes or brings about:
Trust in God’s ways Establishment of God’s promises
Respect of evil’s impact Purges evil from our life
Receiving (everlasting) mercy The beginning of knowledge
Salvation Fountain of life
Walking in God’s ways Establishes understanding
No want Adds days and happiness to life
Fulfilled desires Brings long life
Being blessed Gives us satisfaction with life
Wisdom A depth that is better than treasure
Being praised by others Removal of terror of our enemies
As you can see from this comparison, the difference is that Yare’ (for God and man) provides initial, surface, visible results. Yir’ah (for God alone) improves your invisible depth — both now and eternally. As a believer you have a hedge of protection from The Father Himself from all that could harm your eternal soul. If I have ever heard a “nanny, nanny, boo, boo” snub to Satan, that is one!
Love,
Dad