Posts Tagged ‘Fear’

Is God Safe?

Posted: March 17, 2026 in Something to think about
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I was reading from a book recently when I came across this question the author posed which I found intriguing because of the obvious contrast. This contrast I am referring to is the God we often refuse to see: the God who is simultaneously our ultimate Privilege and yet, our ultimate Peril. He is one God—with two very different realities— but yet He is held together without contradiction.

I hope I don’t surprise any of you with this post but to be clear, the more I learn about our God, the more I fear Him. God isn’t “just” filled with compassion and mercy; He is an Almighty and “Consuming Fire” and as a reminder, many times when He spoke or just showed up in the Bible, people were filled with sheer terror. 

I think one of the best examples of this is when God leads His people to Mt Sinai where he gave them His Ten Commandments in the book of Exodus. Moses serves as the liaison between the Children of Israel and God by going back and forth, or… up and down the mountain 8 different times to accomplish this task. 

As J. A. Motyer tells us, “The 10 Commandments were spoken by the Lord, in His own voice to Israel, but to those who heard this found the experience terrifying beyond endurance and appealed to Moses to be their mediator”. See the Exodus verses below:

When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”  Exodus 20:18-19.

You see, God was building a foundation for them to understand that He was the God who saved them from Egyptian slavery and brought them to this place. Here, at His mountain, He would teach them about His holiness. And that without holiness, no one will see the Lord. 

But as we learn, Israel assumed that “an easy going people believe in an easy going God” which could not have been further from the truth. Because “the Lords holiness is like a huge force held in check, but constituting an overwhelming menace if released”.

The real lesson here is DO NOT TAKE GOD FOR GRANTED. Do not approach Him with indifference or apathy because He is God and He should be revered.

So I ask you the question again, Is God Safe?

Let’s see how Donald McCullough answers that in his book, The Trivialization of God:

God is definitely not safe. To appear before the Wholly Other with steady knees – well, it would be foolhardy, to say the least. In the presence of this God, human indifference gets slapped to alert attention and human pretension gets knocked on its backside. 

God is not safe, but God is good, very good. For the dangerous otherness is a transcendent, loving commitment not to be separate – a threat to our egos that establishes our true selves, a danger that is our only safety. 

Why is this important now? 

Because if you haven’t noticed, this society continues to move at warp speed towards indifference and apathy…two human characteristics God hates the most because they come from the evil one. And it is critical for you and me to constantly be reminded that although our God is a patient and loving God, He is still a consuming fire who, as the Psalmist tells us in 115:3, “Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him.” And guys, there is absolutely nothing you or I can do about that…except be humble and reverent towards Him.

Which is my encouragement to you today. Don’t get lost in apathy or lack of caring about your relationship with Christ. Renew it today and stay connected to Him.

Let me leave you with this quote from the C.S. Lewis book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe about the first time the children learn about Aslan:

“Is…is he a man?” asked Lucy.

“Aslan, a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly. “Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of the Beasts? Aslan is a Lion  –  the Lion, the great Lion.”

“Ooh!” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he – quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion”.

“That you will, dearie, and make no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver. “If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or just silly.”

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

Until next time Guys-

NOTES:

  • Motyer, J. A. The Message of Exodus, Inter-Varsity Press, 2005
  • McCullough, Donald, W. The Trivialization of God, Navpress, 1995
  • Lewis, C. S., The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Harper Trophy, 1950

Wrestling with Unbelief

Posted: May 30, 2023 in Father
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“My son says he doesn’t believe in God anymore”. Those were the anguished words I heard my friend speak to me just the other day when we were together. He said, “he made that announcement to my wife and me with the proclamation that he no longer needs to go to church either”. My friend’s son is just 17 and only a junior in high school. He went on to tell me that this announcement was really just the tip of the iceberg inside their home because he and his wife had been dealing with a pure rebellion in this young man for close to a year. Moreover, with younger kids still in the home, this situation is beginning to tear his family apart.

How do you respond to someone when they tell you that?

My brothers, I am sure many of you can identify with this very same situation with all the battles that happen as a result. As the father, some of us may get firm, stand our ground in front of our wife and kids, and shout back, “ITS My Way or the Highway!” while others of us may be more fearful and not want to upset the household too much. Therefore we don’t do anything…leaving everyone confused because there aren’t any boundaries coming from Dad…

Does any of this sound familiar to you?

The Bible tells us this in Proverbs:

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6 ESV)

So if we give our kids the correct Christ-like foundation and a home that believes in Him and loves each other, no matter what…then if I understand God correctly, He will take care of the rest?

The answer is a resounding YES.

Guys, I am NOT a parenting expert; I simply speak from experience in my own life when I was a teenager as well as now being the father of 2 sons.

It all starts with love in the home. By building a foundation of love inside your walls and providing for your children in the best way YOU can…then you have laid the foundation for God to work with later on when they are older. You see, the reality of this life is that our children get to make their own choices about their lives…and that includes whom they will serve. As much as you and I may try, we don’t get to make that decision for them. They make it for themselves…your kids and mine. All we can do as parents are to give them the best we have and then it is up to God. He does the heavy lifting.

Now, please don’t misunderstand me about this point, I am NOT saying we walk away from them…OH NO. I am saying that once they reach that age and begin to question everything…we continue to love them, pray for them, and provide guidance as they walk through this valley. That is our job and that is exactly what I told my friend. “Your home is being attacked by the enemy through your son and no matter what happens, you have to stand strong in Christ and work to try and love your kid through this major episode…together”. I encouraged him like I would encourage you with these words:

God is working in your life, even when you don’t see it, even when you can’t feel it, even if it’s not evident.

You are NOT alone on this battlefront. Remember that God is beside you, no matter how many MEAN things our kids say to us…WE STILL TRUST HIM…

Please don’t give up guys…Let me leave you with one of my favorite verses from the Bible in Joshua:

And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”    (Joshua 24:15 ESV)

Until next time guys…

Childlike Faith…in a Grown Man?

Posted: January 15, 2012 in Father, Inspirational, Tough Times
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Many years ago I worked for a company that decided they wanted to improve the teamwork amongst their management group. The ownership believed there were some folks in positions that didn’t play well together which makes for a difficult work environment. As a result, the owners decided to send the entire management team to a 2 day bonding experience high in the mountains. Personally, I had a great time because the majority of these challenges were  physical and very self challenging. For example, we got to scale a 100 foot tree and then repel back to the ground. But the exercise that truly impacted me, as well as the rest of us, was the fall back challenge. I remember standing up on a small 4 ft. high stand facing away from the group. The objective was for me to simply fall backward and trust that the group standing behind me, would catch me. As it turned out, I did fall and they did catch me, but for that split second, I wondered if they could handle my weight or what if there needed to be more people to catch me? All of those concerns ran through my mind right before I let go…

Now I know this is a very simple example of what I am trying to illustrate here but I think it will work. What if those questions I mentioned earlier never crossed my mind for this reason…because there was never any question that my teammates would catch me? What if I had NO fear and complete trust they would be there for me? What kind of relationship would I have had with them in order to have that kind of faith in them? That is exactly the kind of faith I marvel at when I look at the example of young David as he prepared to face the giant, Goliath. Fear was never the issue in his mind whereas any other soldier, it was paralyzing. He absolutely knew that when he stepped onto that battlefield he would be victorious…with no doubt whatsoever…total childlike faith in his God. I believe that even if Goliath would have had a Howitzer on that day, David would have beat him.

This is what David told Saul the King below:

The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the Lion and the paw of the Bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

1 Samuel 17:37

So how does one come to that kind of faith in God? What did David do or for that matter, what did God do in order for David to believe in him with such utter childlike dependence? Can you imagine if you approached your own Christian walk like that? No matter what you attempted, your faith in God was so solid with the knowledge that he would catch you if you fell…The kind of faith that is almost as natural as breathing…its just automatic.

Guys, all of us face challenges and adversity everyday both at work AND at home. I would also be safe in saying that some of those challenges are almost beyond what we can bear…I challenge you today to face your life’s challenges as David did without fear and ready to believe in what God has for you. I certainly will not say it will all be glorious and wonderful by any means…but what I can tell you is that faith in Him is truly sustaining. We WILL make it through our trials and challenges because we believe HE will overcome for us…just like he did for David. I assure you that when David got up that morning, he had no idea that he would be fighting the largest human being on earth. Honestly, getting to know David after some study, I would say that he got up that morning,  knelt down, prayed and said, “Let’s  do this!” and headed off to face his day…

So guys, let’s get excited everyday in anticipation of what God has in store for us…and when the going gets tough…keep in mind that what God did for David…he will do for you!!!

Until next time Guys…