Day 26: The Great Goodness:
"How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world." —Psalm 31:19
The focus of today's entry is on the goodness of God and how instead of running away from him, we should run toward him. Anderson speaks about his college and early med school days and how he had been an atheist until he met his wife. In a previous entry Anderson explained that helping his wife memorize Philippians is what turned him toward God and in this entry he adds that she also gave him a book by C.S. Lewis called Mere Christianity, (I just bought it today). Obviously both experiences made an impression on him and he became a believer. He admits that his transformation was rather abrupt, whereas many people's are more gradual. He says once we have turned to God, our minds are renewed and we become new creations. "The way we think about the world changes as we realize how temporary it is." He reminds us that God has "stored up goodness for us, and he will lavish it upon us when we fear him and come to him for protection." There is that word again, FEAR! I don't like that word to describe a relationship with God. To fear something is to see it as harmful, painful, dangerous, and as something to avoid. If I fear someone, I do not go to them for protection. I think a better word would be respect. When we respect someone, we listen to what they say. We deeply admire them and try to emulate them ourselves. We revere them. I think we need to acknowledge God's power and understand his grace, but fear has such a negative connotation. I wonder if the original Greek word was more like respect. A word that captured the idea of having a healthy fear of the power of God, yet a deep admiration and a desire to serve Him and be like Him.
Anderson ends by encouraging us to reflect on the goodness of God that awaits us in heaven and to realize that our dissatisfaction in this world is because ultimately, we were created for another. It's always good to be reminded that, as Albert E. Brumley wrote and sang:
This world is not my home
I'm just a passin' through
My treasures are laid up
Somewhere beyond the blue...
So yes, the word leans more towards reverence and respect rather than how we typically denote fear. I wonder why the powers that be that translate the bible do not use the word respect or revere rather than fear. Fear strikes me as a word used to control people. Personally, I don't want to be controlled. I want my actions to be inspired genuinely by love and respect, not fear and uncertainty.
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