Luke 8:36-37

The crowds were seized, affected and afflicted by fear – held fast, so to speak by what they had seen. Instead of rejoicing over the triumph of evil these people chose to remain paralyzed by fright to the point of expelling from their premises their only hope for salvation. Fear – the Oxford Dictionary states is an unpleasant emotion; a state of alarm; a dread or fearful respect; anxiety for the safety of; danger or likelihood of something unwelcomed; uneasy expectation; and apprehensive about. Fear is commanded against in Scripture. Paul tells us:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Phil 4:6 (NIV)
This was not a call to a care-free life but rather a Christ dependant life. David tells us in Psalm31: 14 But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God." 15 My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me. Psalms 31:14-15 (NIV)
It is a choice between trusting in Christ in the midst of our circumstances and worrying over them. This does NOT mean that we sit around doing nothing waiting for God to drop quail in our laps. It is a position that is obtained, of course, by all the while aggressively doing everything He calls us to as unto the Lord. Paul states: 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Col 3:23-24 (NIV)
I love a quote from Frederick Buechner speaking of the awesomeness of God by citing parts of the Lord’s Prayer. It certainly gives credence to our verse for today as to why the crowds were so fearful: "‘Thy will be done’ is what we’re saying ... We are asking God to be God. We are asking God to do not only what we want but what God wants. We are asking to make manifest the holiness that is now mostly hidden, to set free in all its terrible splendor the devastating power that is now mostly under restraint ... ‘Thy kingdom come ... on earth’ is what we are saying. And if that were suddenly to happen, what then? What would stand and what would fall? ... To speak these words is to invite the tiger out of the cage ... You need to be bold in another way to speak the other half. Give us. Forgive us. Don’t test us. Deliver us. If it takes guts to face the omnipotence that is God’s, it takes perhaps no less to face the impotence that is ours. We can do nothing without God. Without God we are nothing. It is only the words ‘Our Father’ which make the prayer bearable. If God is indeed something like a father, then as something like children maybe we can risk approaching...” I think one problem we certainly have in our society today is that we have lost the fear of God. This fear is the only fear commanded in Scripture – we are to fear Him and Him alone. We make a BIG mistake when we anthropomorphize God by placing Him on our level. Hell-o, we are not on equal playing fields here! If the reactions of the saints in Scripture when coming face to face with angelic beings that have just been in God’s presence cause them to fall as dead men, what, can you imagine, would happen if we were to be ushered into the very presence of God? Remember what the Scriptures tell us:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Prov 1:7 (NIV)
We would do well to ponder this point before flippantly entering into His presence. He is approachable ONLY through Christ’s work on the cross. Without that, we are all as dead men! To further seal this point, I am reminded of Hebrews 12 describing Moses’ (called God’s friend in Scripture) reaction to God’s holiness at Mount Sinai where the Old Covenant was given and the awesomeness and fearful nature of His holiness is described: 18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20 because they could not bear what was commanded: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned." 21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, "I am trembling with fear." Heb 12:18-21 (NIV) As believers in Christ we have access to God in all of His splendor and power and awesomeness and holiness. We can approach His throne only on the merits of Christ’s atoning sacrifice for our sins. The blood He shed took away our sins and has allowed us to be ushered back into the holy presence of the great “I AM”.