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“In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence: and he leaves his children a support. The commandment of the Lord is a fountain of life; and it causes men to turn aside from the snare of death.” (Prov 14: 26-27, Septuagint-translation)
“Fear” is a life-giving, God-given gift, essential for survival. It is an evolved capacity in the human being, so science tells us. But like other God-given gifts and drives, which I inherently have as a human being, fear becomes harmful to me when it is divorced from God; when it is not “ of God” and takes on a life of its own. Inherent, human fear in a life not God-focused is crippling, existential anxiety in the face of the many uncertainties and ambivalences that are part-and-parcel of any human life.
“ In the fear of the Lord,” I am reminded as I begin the fifth week of Lent, “is strong confidence.” I “fear” losing my connection with Him and focus on Him, the Source of love, wisdom, and forgiveness of my sins, and this “ fear of the Lord” liberates me from merely-human fears, of financial insecurity, of human opinion, of loneliness, and so on. “ I walk the line” He sets out before me today, in the situations, work, and relationships I am given in my particular vocation, or “ commandment of the Lord.” So let me do the next right thing today, according to His call, – that is, according to my immediate responsibilities. Let my vocation be what it is meant to betoday, “ a fountain of life,” which causes me “ to turn aside from the snare of death.”
