All in Fear

Sauntering

As I longed to be out on the mountain trails this summer, the following quote by John Muir, writer and naturalist, caught my eye:

“People ought to saunter in the mountains, not hike! …people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when people in the villages through which they passed asked where they were going, they would reply, ‘A la sainte terre, to the Holy Land.’ And so they became known as sainte-terre-ers or saunterers.”

The Sun of Righteousness

For a year and a half my husband and I lived in a remote mining town in northern British Columbia. We loved the changes in the seasons; but when the winter months came to that place, the lack of direct sunlight took us by surprise. The sun never rose above the surrounding mountains. Cabin fever is a well-known syndrome in the far north, high doses of vitamin D the answer.

 

His Treasured Possession

Then—Malachi’s words cut to the core of those who feared the LORD. Having come to their senses and repented of any personal falling away, they got together to talk it over. The Hebrew suggests this was not just one meeting, but occurred regularly and nurtured their faith. I cannot help but think they spent a lot of time speaking about the goodness of God in their lives—they honored His name!  

Who—Me, LORD?

In Malachi’s day reverence for the Lord had hit rock bottom once again. God knew there was only one way to make His message plain and clear. He had to shift the focus of His people off themselves and the world, back on Him.

Out of the Ditch

It seems fear of the Lord has me in its grip for 2024. Let’s spend the week seeing what the book of Malachi has to say about a fearful attitude. How in the world do we live in the fear of the Lord?

Singing and Running

They tried everything they could to reduce her fever. Witch hazel. An ice bath. They knew a doctor was the best decision to save their daughter’s life. With no phone and no vehicle, they did the only thing they could.

In The Thick of Trouble

Thorns… I don’t like them.

Recently, I was caught in a fight with multiple vine-like thorn bushes while trying to clear an area of land. The more I wrestled with them, the more they caught my clothes and circled around me… like a live animal attacking. I cried out for help!

Green Jelly Beans

It all began in the garden, didn’t it? It certainly would have been God’s desire that we be holy as He is. After all He created man in his own image (Genesis 1:27), and holiness is the essence of His being. Makes me wonder how different things could have been.

Yada Yada Knowledge

In my search for the fear of the LORD this year I am certainly in need of both wisdom and understanding. See how key knowledge of the Holy One is. I need to know God, not just know about God. The Hebrew for knowledge, yada, is experiential knowledge, not merely head knowledge.

“I AM WHO I AM.”

Names in biblical times were important. “I AM WHO I AM” proclaims the “eternity and self-existence of God”*. Plain and simple, that is who He is. The name by which He is to be known forever is ‘The LORD’, translated Yahweh. The Israelites considered Yahweh too holy to speak or write out in full.**  At least they started out with reverence and awe.

 

Holy. Holy. Holy.

The Old Testament patriarchs and prophets were no strangers to godly fear. Take Isaiah’s cry for example: “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty” (Isaiah 6:5).  

Who Do I Fear?

Being a people-pleaser is not something to be proud of. It is based on fear of rejection, punishment, or abandonment. Not until recently did I realize that I work to please people more than I want to please God. Ouch! That’s a hard reality to face.

The Fog of Fear

Habakkuk—one of those books in the Bible I need the index to find, and cannot spell unless I pronounce each “k” separately. Mercy me! In the days before the southern kingdom fell to Babylon (586 BC), the prophet Habakkuk’s heart was broken over the apparent triumph of evil over righteousness. Decency and peace were crumbling everywhere. Kind of makes us think of society today.

What I Fear

What are your greatest fears? It’s not often I’ve feared for my life but several memories remind me I’ve had a few.

Traveling home from Belize with one of my 10 year old twins as we flew through a terrible storm was terrifying. I was not sure we would make it safely back to Houston.