What Should I Fear?

Daily devotional guides push me in all sorts of directions I would not otherwise go. That’s why I like them. Earlier this week, for example, I was reading about fear.

St. Hilary, the fourth century bishop of Poitiers in central France, wrote:

We are afraid, or made afraid, because of a guilty conscience, the rights of someone more powerful, an attack from one who is stronger, sickness, encountering a wild beast, suffering evil in any form. This kind of fear is not taught: it happens because we are weak. We do not have to learn what we should fear: objects of fear bring their own terror with them.

That is, fear is part of our human condition. We live in a scary and dangerous world with an uncertain future. Our health, our children, our jobs, our savings, the economy, and the daily headlines are frightening things to think about. And so often, the older people get, the more afraid they become. Oh, you can call it worry or stress, but, let's be honest, those are just other names for fear.

St. Hilary doesn’t say we should not have natural fears, but he does suggest that we learn a higher more exalted fear, the fear of God.

That sounds scary to many people. Childhood memories and training tend to put ugly thoughts in our heads about what sort of God should be feared. But St. Hilary goes on to explain what he means by the fear of God.

For us the fear of God consists wholly in love, and perfect love of God brings our fear of him to its perfection. Our love for God is entrusted with its own responsibility: to observe his counsels, to obey his laws, to trust his promises.

When we fear God, the fears of this world begin to shrink. We begin to see the uncertainties of life that cause us to be afraid through the lens of God’s love and power. And we can walk into our senior years with confidence and joy instead of worry, worry, and a side order of stress.