Matthew 10:26-31
26 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.[b]30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Biblically speaking, fear is something that we are encouraged to both resist and submit to, this can be confusing so let's take a moment and break it down. Above is a passage from the gospel of Matthew, in which Jesus is preparing His disciples to go out and do ministry in teams. He is encouraging them and warning them simultaneously. He wants them to know that, much of what they are afraid of, is not to be feared. As humans, we are afraid of those people in power, ridicule, failure, death, pain, injury, loss, need I go on? Have you ever experienced fear when starting something new and unknown in new places? But Christ says, these things, forget about fearing these things, instead halfway through vs. 28 He says, ."..be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." What does He mean?
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.[b]30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. I believe based on the wholeness of what God has to say on this topic from the Old testament through to the New Testament, and to quote Oswald Chambers, "The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.” Fear of God is not because He is scary like a nightmare. It is to be in awe and fear of the One Great Power that there is, to see that God is in control and to acknowledge that we are not. His greatness is so far beyond the boundaries of our senses that when we even get a glimpse it scares us, like any great and powerful thing (think wind, water, heat, light). When we are aware of His power and authority then we can experience the peace that Jesus encourages us with in vs 29-31, This image is gentle, intimate and loving and yet it can not be understood apart from vs 28. This is the connection between reasonable fear and unreasonable fear that we discussed in the last post, it is truly reasonable to fear God.
Remember, "“The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.” more on this next post.