Don't Be Afraid of God

I grew up hearing my mom say, “Wait until your Dad gets home!” when I misbehaved, which naturally led me to be elsewhere when he returned from work. Some writers of the Old Testament took the same approach to induce the people of Israel to avoid sin, elaborating on God’s wrath, which we surely want to avoid. For example, the prophet Isaiah warns, “Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, cruel, with fury and burning anger, to make the land a desolation; and He will exterminate its sinners from it” (Is 13:9).

Jesus, through his teaching and healing acts, gave us a very different image of God. Rather than being a harsh judge who is easily angered, God is portrayed by Jesus as a loving and forgiving father who rejoices when his errant children return to him, as in the parable of the Prodigal Son. It is much easier to imagine having a relationship with Jesus’ God rather than a God who is believed to be impatient and quick to punish us.

Fortunately, mystics such as St. Gertrude and St. Teresa of Avila affirmed the immense love of God for us. Ursuline mystic and missionary St. Marie of the Incarnation said, “God has never led me by feelings of fear, but always by a spirit of love and trust.” In our own age, Ronald Rolheiser, OMI, has pointed out that “…in Matthew’s Gospel the first words Jesus speaks to anyone after his resurrection are the remarkable words, Don’t be afraid! … The meaning of the resurrection is precisely that we should not be afraid, particularly not afraid of God.”

Translators of the Bible often use the unfortunate phrase “fear of the Lord,” as in “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). What they are trying to convey is not that we should be afraid of God but we should be awed by God. Yes, God is majestic and glorious; even more awesome, God is loving and merciful. Rather than hide from God, we should seek God with an open and trusting heart.