strong confidence

"In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge."

Proverbs 14:26

Of all the verses in Proverbs, this is one I relate to very personally. People now remark on my confidence, but it wasn't always that way. A daydreamer, I was never much good at practical things--nor did I always quite live in the world others did. As a young teenager, I had the usual struggles with inadequacy.

I do remember what prompted the change. God brought new circumstances and people into my life that stretched me. They forced me to take all the training my parents had given me and really apply it. I was in love with the Lord and wanted to serve Him, and I saw how my old worries and fears would hamper that. But they didn't just go away.

Into that came Proverbs 14:26. In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence. His children have refuge in Him. He was offering me confidence. When I did fall, He offered me refuge. So there was no cause--no cause at all--to be insecure.

Fear of God does not mean cringing terror. We insult God by "fearing" Him the way we would fear a cruel tyrant. We know, from His Word and His acts in our world, that He loves us. To fear God is to recognize who He is, to acknowledge His Lordship, to act accordingly. We fear Him because He is who He is--because He is good.

When the fear of God is the central focus of our hearts, circumstances and worrisome things can fade into relative unimportance. We can be confident, not in who we are, but in who He is.