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Fear That Moves You
Weekly Edition #56: February 18th, 2026
Verse I Like:
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Weekly Dose
Doubt is usually cast as the opposite of faith.
Maybe it’s not just doubt, but an overabundance of allegedly-unconquerable, overwhelming doubt.
It seems to me, though, that the opposite of faith is actually fear.
If true faith is a belief that pushes us toward good and righteous action, then fear is the temptation that pulls us away from what we ought to do. Debilitating doubt falls under this category of fear.
But properly oriented doubt can lay the path for faith. Faithful action requires real and serious risk. It requires true wrestling.
This may be why “the fear of the Lord” is emphasized in Scripture. The risk of acting faithfully is real and should invoke seriousness. But even more is the fear of the Lord that should push us and steady us in faith.
We are given a greater, wholly righteous fear to push us against the lesser fears that try to keep us from acting faithfully.
Quotes I Like:
“A man who procrastinates in his choosing will inevitably have his choice made for him by circumstance.”
“He who fears death will never do anything worthy of a man who is alive.”
“What you are afraid to do is a clear indication of the next thing you need to do.”
Mane Message
In the Book of Numbers, Israel stands on the edge of promise.
After wandering in the wilderness, it is finally time to enter the land God swore to give them. Moses sends twelve men, one from each tribe, to scout the land.
For forty days they explore it. The land is fertile. Abundant. Everything God said it would be.
But ten of the spies, overcome by fear, add something else to the report.
“There are giants in the land.”
“The cities are fortified.”
“We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes.”
However, two men of the twelve, Joshua and Caleb, see the same land—the same challenges.
But they draw a different conclusion.
“Yes, there are strong men ahead of us. But the Lord is with us.”
Everyone feared. The ten feared the size of the enemy. Joshua and Caleb feared the Lord.
This is the dividing line.
The ten spies were not irrational. The threats were real. But their fear was misaligned. They elevated the danger above the promise.
Joshua and Caleb did not lack fear, but they properly integrated and ordered it. They placed the weight of God above the weight of the challenges in the promised land.
Fear is a constant. The question is not whether you will fear, but what you will fear most.
When the fear of the Lord becomes heavier than all other fears, movement becomes inevitable.
Faith is not the absence of fear. Faith is the proper alignment of fear.
Weekly Ponder
Have I labeled something “wisdom” that is really just hesitation dressed up as prudence?
Where have I allowed visible risk to outweigh the risk of regret from missed opportunities and promises?
Enjoying our Content?
Onward and Upward!
