One of the first gifts the Holy Spirit brings to us is a sense of safety--Be not afraid; I am with you. Without that, we cannot grow, we cannot give. We must know we are safe before we can give up our survival mode of existence. As long as our primary endeavor is to protect ourselves, that is all we will do.
God must have made Abraham feel that he could step away from the protection of his father's house and culture to become a wanderer and an alien, to go among people of foreign ways and tongues. In Egypt, we see Abraham's residual fear as the outsider, but we see God at work on his behalf in a strange land. The Abraham who was willing to sacrifice his wife out of fear would later be the Abraham who was not afraid to allow God to have his son.
David would later say, "You make me to lie down in safety, and when I arise, I shall not be afraid." This, from the man who slew Goliath the Philistine.
Someone once wrote: The man who fears the Lord fears nothing else; the man who does not fear the Lord fears everything else.
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Thank you for this. If I were asked to write out my lesson du jour from today with biblical references and eloquent prose, I would cut and paste this entry. So grateful to be given new senses to see your beauty bloom. Love you much.
ReplyDeleteHere I go again, wondering if we're supposed to be afraid of God. Or, are we supposed to be in awe of God?
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