Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 Fear God
Solomon sternly warns us to come before God with an honest and respectful heart. Don’t make promises that you can’t keep. And watch what you say.
Before going into our reading too far, I want to talk about the kind of “fear” Solomon is calling us to. There is a fear that leads to running away, one that leads to avoidance, and one that leads to running toward.
I have a HUGE fear of snakes and mice. When I encounter one, there is NO holding my feet still I RUN, SCREAMING in a panic away from them. Many people will laugh about this because mice cannot really hurt me, nor many kinds of snakes. It doesn’t matter how dangerous or benign they are to me, the mere sight of them sends me into a panic. This IS NOT the kind of fear Solomon is calling for. This is the running away kind of fear.
The fear that leads to avoidance is a little more complicated. It can have components of both the other kinds of fear. For myself, I will use the example of working with electricity and power tools. I have had, on occasion, the need to work with electrical wiring. I avoid doing this kind of work as MUCH as possible. I will hire out the job or ask a friend who is skilled in this area instead. But there have been a few times when I couldn’t avoid the job. In those instances, I took EVERY precaution I could think of, prayed, and proceeded with trembling hands. So far, I have been successful in the little jobs I had to do with electricity but I’m NOT volunteering to move on to harder tasks.
With power tools, I have always been afraid of hurting myself or making a mess of the project I was working on. Again, I would ask for help or find another solution when faced with projects needing power tools. Since I can’t always avoid the need for power tools, I have carefully learned how to use some power tools, taking great care to respect the fact that they could do me serious damage if I don’t use them properly. I have begun having some success with a few tools. I have now used a drill, drill press, sander, a chop saw, a Sawzall, and a multi-tool. I’m still not confident in my abilities and try to avoid them as much as possible.
The fear of avoidance is certainly part of what Solomon is calling us to. Solomon is telling us to respect the power that is in God. Just as I respect the power in electricity and power tools, treating them with utmost care, so should I recognize that God is even more powerful. I am to avoid carelessly approaching Him as surely as I would avoid working on an electrical wiring with the power turned on. Know His power. Avoid putting myself in dangerous places that would put me in conflict with Him. In short, avoid sin! That puts me in a place where His power has the greatest possibility of ‘striking’ me. Fear, avoid, such situations as much as possible!
Fear that makes you run toward something is the other part of the kind of fear Solomon is calling us to. When a child is young, he has a fear of his mother getting too far away from him. If he can’t see her, he panics and searches for her or cries out. His fear continues until he is once again reunited with her. His world is not safe or complete without her. This is how our lives are without God. Without God, danger lurks around every corner. He is the only One holding me together. When I start to wander away, my world spins out of control and I’m left devastated. Yes, there are still times when things fall apart around me and I’m not far from Him. But in THOSE times, I hold onto Him a little tighter and KNOW that I will survive. When I’m on my own, I have nothing to hold to. Nothing to give me assurance or stability. My fear of being adrift propels me to run towards Him, crash into His arms, and burry my head in His chest. Here is my safety. Here is where I can weather any storm. And here I plan to stay!
Solomon points to several areas where our right fear of God should guide our actions. The first is how we approach Him. He isn’t something you ‘dabble’ in from time to time. He is not a pastime, when you have nothing else to do with yourself. He is to be a priority in our lives. When we come to Him to learn of Him, either through personal study in His word or through corporate teachings, PAY ATTENTION. Seek for understanding. Ask how it applies to your life. Be willing to act on what you have learned. Search for better understanding through His word if you are unsure about what you have heard. Check what you have heard against His word and ask His Spirit to guide you to the truth.
It is better to listen and obey than to make a sacrifice of repentance. God called for many sacrifices for multiple different reasons in the Law. One of the main reasons for sacrifice was to cover over sin. When you listen and obey in the beginning, there is no need for a sacrifice of repentance. God MUCH prefers this.
Another issue is not making promises you can’t or won’t keep. I call them “pie crust promises”; easily made, easily broken. Solomon says that if you make a promise to the Lord, get right on it! The more time you wait before acting on it, the more likely you are to find an excuse to avoid doing it. BEFORE even making a promise, CONSIDER IT CAREFULLY. Is this promise something God would want from you? What are your motives behind the promise? Are you making this promise to look good to others? Are you trying to manipulate God with your promise; “I’ll do ____ if You will do ____” or “I promise to do ____ so You will HAVE to do ____.” Know your heart and motives. Be faithful to your word, even if you didn’t get into it for the right reasons.
Sometimes we come up with BIG ideas that we want to do “for the Lord.” Check them out first against God’s word and with His Spirit. Is this ‘dream’ inspired by Him or by yourself? Weigh it carefully and hold it for a while. Don’t go sharing it with everyone you know as soon as it pops into your mind. Let God speak to you about it. Listen and ask for direction from step one. Let God grow that dream from the ground up, until it reaches the dream HE has for you.
I had a dream for a LONG time about sharing my bible study time and insights God shared with me. I had no idea how to go about it or even if it was a desire from God. I wanted to honor Him with whatever He gave me. During those years of dreaming, there were periods of time when I didn’t spend time with Him regularly. I would get side tracked and months would go by before I got back on track. I didn’t have the drive at that time to actually see the dream into reality.
When the opportunity to create this blog came along, I didn’t know how faithful I would be. I was afraid of disappointing God. Afraid that I would make a fool of myself or worse, be the author of confusion. I was NOT perfect in coming daily for time with God and His word. I had days, and sometimes several days in a row, where I let life distract me. Guilt became my companion as a result of the missed days. God worked on my heart day by day. I no longer come out of guilt but out of a desire to see what ‘story’ He has for me next. He is still building and honing this dream within me. I have voiced to a few people another step I dream of taking for Him but I first have to make CERTAIN that my motives are right. I want to KNOW that my ‘contributions’ are gifts from God to others through me, not ‘displays’ of my ‘skills’ meant to honor me and Him peripherally. If He is not FIRST, then the ‘dream’ MUST die. Only when He reworks it in me will it be reborn.
Father God, I cannot imagine my life without You. I would be destroyed and completely alone; existing in abject fear. I KNOW You have power that I can’t begin to fathom. I want to draw near and learn of You. I want to understand more each day as I come to You for our ‘story time.’ Show me where to go, how to apply what You bring me, and develop a dream in me that lines up with Your plans for my life. And keep my mouth SHUT unless it is to say something YOU have given me. Remove anything that is not of You so I don’t confuse anyone.
