“Who are those who fear the Lord? He will show them the path they should choose. They will live in prosperity and their children will inherit the land. The Lord is a friend to those who fear him. He will teach them his covenant.” – Psalm 25: 12-14

I’ve always struggled with the concept of fearing the Lord, not that I have trouble with reverence, but I couldn’t really grasp its complexity. How do you do it?
Twice in the span of two weeks, portions of this scripture showed up.

In our Northwood Ladies Bible Study, Discovering The Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer, she asked us to choose two of six possible verses to post on a mirror or carry around with us. One of them was Psalm 25:14. When I read the two preceding verses, I decided I wanted to claim those, too. I need guidance – constantly. I often get lost, metaphorically more than IRL (in real life, for those of you not living with a teenager). And as a parent, I definitely want to leave a legacy for my kids. I copied the three verses and taped them to my bathroom mirror, where they have become part of my “Flossing Meditation” (see this podcast from Happier with Gretchen Rubin about putting the word “meditation” with a boring task to trick yourself into doing it).

A week later, Northwood Church’s Executive Pastor Mike Mowery used the same passage of scripture from Psalm 25. This is not one of those verses that show up all the time, so my “Holy Spirit radar detector” started beeping at me like crazy. I thought, “Oh wow! I need to write about this.”

Then life happened, and I haven’t posted on my blog in THREE WEEKS. I’ve got a long list of wonderful excuses, but I’ll skip over them. I’ll just acknowledge that I missed some of God’s blessings by dragging my feet. Time to move forward.

After having a gauzy picture of fearing the Lord, the concept is starting to hit me upside the head in glorious Technicolor. Earlier this year in Ladies’ Bible Study, there was a line that I can’t find at the moment about how the author’s friend described fearing the Lord as seeing God in everything. I revere the Lord when I see Him in everything.

I see God in the morning sunrise over rooftops, the wrinkled face that smiles at me over grocery bins of apples and pears, the stop-and-go traffic that makes me slow my roll.

But the concept of fearing God goes deeper than this. Because He is my first, last and best hope,  I seek Him in everything. When I long for guidance in a difficult situation, I seek Him. When problems large and small threaten to derail my puny faith (and especially after it jumps the track), I seek Him.

My understanding of the fear of the Lord wouldn’t be complete if I stopped here. If I see Him at work all around me and I seek His guidance, then the next logical step is I say “yes” to whatever He asks of me.

My faith shrivels and wilts when I refuse to follow God’s leading.

From Priscilla Shirer’s Discerning the Voice of God: “Over and over Scripture makes clear that the determining factor for experiencing God is obedience. We must learn to make obedience a habit regardless of our feelings.”

I write instead of watching that movie I’ve seen 21 times. I ask my children to do their jobs instead of giving up. I talk about the deeper things of life with a coworker rather than rushing past the pain in her eyes.

I’m giving myself a pep talk more than anything here. All too often I pretend I didn’t notice that prompting or I rationalize it away (remember I avoided my weekly post for two weeks). We are all poor in spirit. Those who recognize their poverty and their complete reliance on God get to inherit all that He offers us, the whole world, in fact.

“So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.” – James 2: 17

Let’s be thankful that we see God’s hand everywhere. In those stormy, bleak or arid places, let’s seek Him. Then where He leads, we say “yes” and take that leap that makes faith blossom and bear fruit.

“But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
    and his righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep his covenant
    and remember to do his commandments.” – Psalm 103:17-18 (ESV)