IBS Application for Psalm 111:10

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!”

Fear of the Lord is a heavily nuanced feeling. It is a reverence for God that cannot be taken too lightly. Some people tend to emphasize that fearing God means actually being afraid of His wrath upon unrighteousness. Some people from find the fear of the Lord to be a deep respect for God, what He’s done, and what He will do in and through us.

Then, there are people who identify the fear of the Lord as a different sort of respect. A kind of respect that holds the opinion of God in such high esteem that it is the only opinion that matters. I believe that this is rightly so, because God demonstrates that His words carry power enough to make something be a certain way. I mean, He literally spoke Creation into existence out of nothing! The things He commands become true, provided the listeners are actually willing to listen. Not to imply that He couldn’t speak something into a person to change their minds, as if He was incapable of doing it. But He does allow us some choice in things, because He desires for us to choose to love Him.

But that’s a bit beside the point. The point is that what God says just is. When He calls us His children, it becomes so. Nothing can change this, because it has become fact. So when He calls us to be something, it will happen. He may allow us to resist a bit, but eventually, He will break down our walls and change our hearts to want to do what we are meant to do. By extreme force if necessary.


I find myself struggling to come to terms with what God has called me to be. Partly because I don’t know where He’s leading me and I don’t like not knowing what’s ahead of me, and partly because I still sometimes feel like I’m out of place here. I feel like I don’t measure up to the levels of intelligence, wisdom, courage and faith that some of my fellow interns have exhibited thus far. I feel like whatever insights I may have to offer can’t be as helpful to others as the insights some other insights have offered up. I am afraid of messing up prayers, which is why I don’t volunteer to be the one to pray when we pray publicly. But my feelings are all lies. I feel God call me to speak up more often, but I fail to answer. If past experience is anything to go by, it won’t be too long before God pushes me hard enough to get out in the open and speak up. So, I might as well answer His call before that happens for a change. I will begin to speak up more often, whether it be concerning insights in class or in group discussions, and volunteer to pray more often when we’re asked to pray.

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