"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," we are told in Ecclesiastes. This, of course, is true. But the fear leading to wisdom is not fear to anxiety, but fear to awe. To be filled with awe is to know the one who you stand before and to know acceptance. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom because fear of the Lord is simply the recognition that the Lord is God - the God of glory. Fear, in this proper sense, undermines our handholds and our footholds, leaving us with no ground on which to stand, argue or fight. Fear is the beginning of wisdom because this fear leaves us undone - calling out, "I believe, help me in my unbelief," as well as "Without you, I can do nothing" (John 15:5).

At the same time though, we often foster fear that leads to anxiety. This fear cannot look beyond itself to see the God of glory truly, but is captured by its own guilt and shame. The great temptation with this fear is that it can accomplish much. With this kind of fear we can build careers, ministries and identities, seeking to use it as a fire beneath us to achieve. But this fear always reaps what it sows. This fear sows to the self, in an attempt to create a self-identity, and will reap the reward of a false self - one whose fear did not lead to awe but to self-accomplishment. We foster this kind of fear in the church today. We often sit through sermons which differ little from coaches' half-time tirades, thinking that we are merely missing the proper motiviation. We convince ourselves that we are the last barrier which holds off the demonic from overtaking the church, or we simply connect ourselves to people who do the same. We get caught up in movements, momentum and "group think" as a way to harness our fear and forcefully turn it to awe, but it will always reap what it has sown. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, therefore stand before the Lord of glory, and allow his word to cut and unveil (Heb. 4).