Someone told a story of a man who fell away from his faith in God; when he returned, he was asked why he had quit loving God. He answered that he hadn’t quit loving God but did not fear God. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is (Romans 8:27a). The Spirit revealed that God never stopped loving the man; the man felt the love of God while on his journey. The man went through a trial to teach him to love God; the fear (awe) of God caused him to return – the love of God is renewing him and the end result will be a love towards God. God is the one pursuing us; when we answer His call we proclaim that we found Him, but He was never lost – we were. His pursuing is with love; our journey away from Him is filled with His love towards us – His faithfulness. During our walk in the darkness, we pick up hurts that cause us to fear love.
As a child, I was abused by both of my parents; one parent deserted me and another resented me being alive. At a very early age, I leaned to fear love. At a very early age, God began to speak to me in visions and dreams and, at the age of eleven, with an audible voice. God was pursuing me, while the enemy was trying to destroy. For a time, I walked in the destruction. With a messed up heart, my first attempts to find love resulted in painful relationships that added to my fear of love. God is love. When I returned to God, it was at His beckoning. My first reaction was to fear the awesome love Who wanted a relationship with me. My heart was too messed up to know it needed a relationship – my heart blamed relationships for all the pain. God continued to pursue me and His love won out over the fear.
The enemy causes us to fear; a fallen man fears the reprisal of the Lord. The enemy causes us to fear things that can not harm our eternity. In fear we stop our self from answering the call of the Lord (which can harm our eternity). Fear causes us to not listen (be deaf) to the calling of the God Who is love. Fear causes us not to speak (be dumb) the words of our testimony, and being deaf towards God’s word we having nothing to say. “But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him” (Luke 12:5)! When we turn our fear to a fear of God, we begin to see the tricks of the enemy – we begin to see the wisdom of God – we begin to see a God Who has always loved us. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10a).
Isaiah wrote of Jesus (the Branch of David), “And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked” (Isaiah 11:2-4 KJV). The word “understanding” is interpreted as “desire” and “delight” in some versions of scripture. It is from a word that means “blow” or “breath” or “smell(ed)” as in, “And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done” (Genesis 8:21).
The spirit of the Lord resting on Jesus caused Him to be able to smell the fear of God. A wicked man with a fear of God is ready for salvation. The smell of a broken heart ready for salvation is a delight to God; it is His desire (great pleasure) to give us the kingdom. Jesus was quick to understand the fear of the Lord, because He smelled it as a soothing aroma. Noah had offered a burnt offering to the Lord, and God smelled a sweet soothing aroma. A broken heart turning, from fearing the things that cannot harm the eternal, unto a fear of the Lord is a pleasing aroma to Jesus. A man ready to repent is a sweet aroma to the Lord, and He delights in it. That is just the beginning; now God can heal the heart and the heart will no longer fear love, but become a carrier of God’s love. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love (1 John 4:17-18). The wicked fear the breath of God. To those who know Jesus as their righteousness He said, “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).
© 2010, Tim D. Coulter Sr.