The Paradox of Fear
Fear is hardwired into our humanity. From our first breath, we know instinctively what it means to be afraid. We spend enormous energy managing our fears—buying insurance, installing locks, curating safe environments, avoiding difficult conversations. We fear pain, loss, embarrassment, exposure, conflict, discipline, being out of control, stillness, and silence. We medicate our fears with entertainment, substances, shopping, and endless scrolling.
Yet here's the startling biblical truth: there is one fear we should run toward, not away from. And paradoxically, this fear doesn't lead to anxiety—it leads to profound, unshakable joy.
A FEAR THAT HEALS
The book of Proverbs presents us with what seems like a contradiction. How can fear and joy coexist? How can we be told to "worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling" (Psalm 2:11)? How can Psalm 112:1 declare, "How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments"?
The answer lies in understanding what the fear of the Lord actually is. It's not the paralyzing terror that sends us running to our addictions and distractions. It's the proper recognition of who God is—and who we are not.
The fear of God is accepting the most destabilizing truth that our culture cannot stomach: I am not God. And once that truth settles in, everything else begins to find its proper place.
THE STAIRCASE OF FEAR AND JOY
The book of Proverbs reveals how fear and joy connect through a beautiful progression—like climbing a staircase where each step is essential to reaching the destination.
Step 1: Fear Produces Confidence
"In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and his children will have refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life" (Proverbs 14:26-27).
This seems backward to our modern ears. We think confidence comes from financial security, backup plans, or strong personalities. We believe fear undermines confidence.
But Scripture flips this on its head. True fear is not the enemy of courage—it's the soil in which it grows.
When you fear God rightly, you stop trying to be God. You're no longer exhausting yourself trying to control everything, justify yourself, or hold your world together through sheer willpower. You've already accepted that you're not sovereign—He is. And that acceptance doesn't create anxiety; it ends it.
This confidence isn't swagger or bravado. It's the deep security of knowing that the God who governs everything is never taken by surprise. It's the peace of living in an unstable world while being stable in Christ.
Step 2: Confidence Makes Us Run to Him
"The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe" (Proverbs 18:10).
Biblical confidence isn't static—it's directional. You can tell what someone truly trusts by watching where they run when life falls apart.
Most of us have been trained by a lifetime of wrong fears to run everywhere except to God. We run to entertainment, substances, distractions, control, manipulation, or despair. But the fear of the Lord retrains our instincts.
When trouble comes, run to God. When you feel afraid, run to God. When you're tempted or tested, run to God. Resist the impulse to return to old comforts and addictions. The Lord doesn't just have a strong tower—He is the strong tower. Confidence isn't a possession of God; it's who God is. And you only have it when you have Him.
Step 3: Running to God Produces Rest
"The fear of the Lord leads to life, so that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil" (Proverbs 19:23).
This is perhaps the most counterintuitive step. Fear produces sleep? Normally fear keeps us awake, replaying conversations, doom-scrolling, unable to be alone with our thoughts.
But notice what this proverb says: it doesn't promise that evil won't exist, but that you'll be untouched by it. Like David's table prepared in the presence of enemies.
Rest is where the sovereignty of God is tested. When the lights go out and the house goes quiet, you can no longer fake confidence. The person who cannot rest, who keeps scrolling, who can't be alone with themselves—that person hasn't yet stopped striving to rest in God.
You're not enough to calm your own fears, fix your shame, control your present, or ensure your future. You're not even enough to keep yourself breathing while you sleep. But God is enough. And when you believe that—really believe it—you rest.
Step 4: Rest Creates Hope
"Do not let your heart envy sinners, but live in the fear of the Lord always. Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off" (Proverbs 23:17-18).
When fear has done its full work, it makes us content with our circumstances—the opposite of envy. Envy isn't primarily about wanting someone's possessions; it's false worship that wants another person's destiny.
The wicked may seem comfortable now, but they're being lulled toward destruction. The person who fears the Lord has no need to envy anyone because they know the Lord who loves them has given them what they need.
Your obedience today isn't wasted. Your restraint isn't foolish. Your suffering isn't meaningless. The fear of God trains your heart to be grateful for whatever God has given you, knowing He writes your future.
Step 5: Hope Leads to Everlasting Joy
"The hope of the righteous is gladness" (Proverbs 10:28).
This is both gladness now and gladness forevermore. Everything we've seen—the fear, confidence, running to God, rest, and hope—leads to eternal joy stored up in heaven.
THE GOSPEL FOR THE FEARFUL
Of course, none of us have feared the Lord perfectly. We haven't had the confidence we should have had. We haven't run to Him as we ought. We haven't rested or hoped as we should.
But there was One who feared God perfectly. One who, even in the most horrifying trial a human could face, had confidence in God. One who "for the joy set before him endured the cross." One who rested so completely in God's plan that He slept through a storm while His disciples panicked.
And because of Him, through His Spirit given to us, we can walk in these things too.
If you don't have joy today, fear God. If you don't have confidence today, fear God. If you're running to the wrong things, fear God.
Because the fear of God produces confidence. That confidence makes you run to Him. That running produces rest. That rest creates security. And that security gives you joy—the kind of joy you cannot manufacture on your own, but will have because you fear Him.
And that transforms everything, including how we worship. True worship is having joy in who God is. And it all begins with the right kind of fear.
