Are You Afraid of God?

“Never permit your soul to be sad and live in bitterness of spirit or scrupulous fear, since He who loved it and died to give it life is so good, so sweet, so amiable.” -St. Francis de Sales

I’m currently listening to The Bible in a Year podcast (with Fr. Mike Schmitz), and I can’t help but be reminded of the many ways we can be afraid of God, especially in the Old Testament. It’s in the Old Testament where we hear about plagues and wars and punishments for people’s sins. It’s in the Old Testament where we can feel as though God is always angry with His people.

It’s sometimes hard to reconcile this with the message of mercy and forgiveness that we see in the New Testament. And sometimes many of us can even wonder whether God has changed. Did He? Was He more forgiving when He finally revealed Himself to Jesus?

But Scripture itself tells us that God does not change and that He is the same now as He had always been. If therefore, we note any change in Him, it may be a change in our perspective. It may be that we have not known Him that well to tell who He truly is.

“For I, the Lord, do not change…” — Malachi 3:6, NABRE

In one of his YouTube videos, Fr. Mike Schmitz compares this to the way we may see our parents. As a child, you may think your parents are very strict with you. There are so many rules and so many restrictions. You are warned not to do this or that. There may also be very clear punishments as a consequence of your disobedience.

As you grow up, however, you hear less and less from them. You no longer need to be reminded each time because they know that you have matured enough to differentiate between right and wrong. All the while, you realize that your parents have been loving and protective of you, they’re still the same.

During ancient times, God had to appear very strict to His people to teach them clearly about His righteousness. After all, the Israelites were surrounded by foreign cultures that practiced various kinds of abominations. God had to give them His Law to let them know what is right. They also had to know the consequences they would suffer when they depart from His Law.

God’s commandments had to be given first before God’s mercy is fully revealed. People must know what justice is so that they can truly appreciate what mercy and forgiveness means.

God is Love. But love is not the same as tolerance. Love does not tolerate evil because love upholds what is good.

Yet even then, God has shown His compassion in various ways. We may have failed to notice it, but if we read the Bible more in the spirit of prayer and humility, we’d discover that even then, God is merciful, patient and forgiving.

“Yet even now,” says the LORD, “turn to me with all your heart,
and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.”
Tear your heart, and not your garments,
and turn to the LORD, your God;
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness,
and relents from sending calamity.
— Joel 2:12–13, WEBBE

The same God who called Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt is the same God revealed to us through Jesus Christ, the One who died on the cross for our sins, the One who says:

“Come to me, all you who labour and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28–30, WEBBE)

“Are we not perhaps all afraid in some way? If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us? Are we not perhaps afraid to give up something significant, something unique, something that makes life so beautiful? Do we not then risk ending up diminished and deprived of our freedom? . . .

No! If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation. And so, today, with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long personal experience of life, I say to you, dear young people: Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ — and you will find true life. Amen.”

? Pope Benedict XVI