Godly Fear Dispels Mortal Fear

Now'd probably be a good time for me to give you those two blog posts I owe you. This is the first of those two.

On April 30, I said that Elder Christofferson's talk was the next one I was going to blog about. I was wrong. It was going to be, but then I saw, on Facebook, a photo Mom had shared that reminded me of another important point to share from Elder Bednar's talk, Therefore They Hushed Their Fears. 

As Elder Bednar said toward the beginning of his talk, the world we live in is a frightening place.

In our daily lives, endless reports of criminal violence, famine, wars, corruption, terrorism, declining values, disease, and the destructive forces of nature can engender fear and apprehension. Surely we live in the season foretold by the Lord: “And in that day … the whole earth shall be in commotion, and men’s hearts shall fail them” (D&C 45:26).

However, Elder Bednar went on to say that "godly fear dispels mortal fears." Through faith in God, we can overcome any mortal fear, including the fear of the dark, the fear of death, and the fear of not being able to measure up to God's standards or our potential. Because of what God has taught us, and the peace that His Spirit brings to our hearts, we know that we do not really need to worry about anything, as long as we're trying to live righteously. We may not be able to measure up, but we've been taught how the Atonement makes up for that. Death will come to each of us eventually, but we have faith in an afterlife, and especially pleasant and glorious afterlife, if we strive to keep God's commandments. And what can darkness, or even the devil himself, do to us, if God is on our side?

God is great and powerful. He can be frightening if we think He has something against us, but God only ever fights against us when we are already fighting against Him, and sometimes, not even then. God loves us, and He always wants what's best for us. Always.

And the same universe-creating, mountain-moving, city-destroying power that the wicked may have good reason to be afraid of will be on our side if we are on God's. As Romans 8:31 says, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" Will God helping us, strengthening us, protecting us, and supporting us, what could we possibly have to fear? The only thing I can think of a truly god-fearing person being afraid of is themselves, and the Atonement can help us overcome that fear as well.

All of God's blessings are contingent on righteous living. God's favor and protection can be ours, but only if we're living righteously enough for Him to bless us. The one weakness of the armor of God is how easy it is to accidentally, foolishly, recklessly take off. God's power can protect us, but it won't prevent us from distancing ourselves from Him and giving up that protection.

But even then, through the power of God, there is hope and healing and even some protection against that threat. God's Spirit can warn us when we start to stray from the straight and narrow path. He can guide us into making right decisions and avoiding sin - the one thing that could overcome God's divine protection. As I wrote in my earlier blog post about Elder Bednar's talk, the fear of God includes obedience to His commandments. When we have that, there is nothing to fear. And when we lose it, there is still hope. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can be forgiven of any and all of our sins. The armor that we may have foolishly damaged or lost can be repaired and replaced when we repent. As long as we are striving to keep the commandments, including the commandment to repent, we literally have nothing to fear.

God is awesome. The power and wisdom and goodness of God are all so great that it literally fills me with awe. And it should. Godly fear is a feeling that "encompasses a deep feeling of reverence, respect, and awe." It's not that we should be afraid of God's infinite power, but that we should have faith that that power can get us through all of the troubles of life. That power has already gotten me through more than one difficult situation. I'm beginning to think that I have faith that God can get me through anything.