Becoming a Woman After God’s Own Heart: Part Three

Part Three.

I subtitled this blog “Becoming a Woman After God’s Own Heart” because is there anything else better to be? I have always been drawn to David because he is identified this way. We as women are deeply connected to the heart of things, and what better heart to be connected to than God’s.

I’ve been doing an in depth study of the life of David in order to answer this question: What is it about David that made him a man after God’s own heart? It’s taken a while considering the many interruptions in my life (I am a mom, ya know!) BUT I have finally come to the end of this study.

My first post centered around humility. Drawing on the truth that it was David’s willingness to seek God’s plan above his own that endeared God to him. My second post focused on David’s proximity to God and the fact that though he did sin, his willingness to repent so quickly kept him close with the Father. As I was wrapping up, I came across the following verse and knew instantly what this last post would be about.

Isaiah 66:2 “This is the one who I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.”

Fear

I know God, I love God, but do I fear Him? What does it mean to tremble at His word? I have always focused on God’s love for me. That part has come so easily. He has been my friend, my comforter through my darkest times. He is my savior. But I have always struggled with the idea of fearing Him. Why would I be scared of someone whose love has been immeasurably, inexplicably woven into every piece of my life? 

There are things in this world that I fear. This world can be evil, cold, and unpredictable. We can all fill in the blanks with the things that keep us up at night and fill our hearts with worry.

Yet how can I, in the same breath, worship the one true living God while also fearing so many things on this earth. Do I really believe He is who He says He is if I fear this world, yet I don’t fear Him?

We fear God because of who He is. Fearing God means fearing nothing else.

Because what He can do is far worse.

He can separate us from Himself for eternity. In the depths of Hell looking up at the splendor of Heaven yet unable to connect. Can you think of anything worse? I can’t.

The simple truth is, if we truly fear God, there is nothing left to fear. Not even death itself. He is bigger, stronger, more powerful than anything in this world we could possibly be afraid of.

Not only that, but when bad things do happen (which He already told us to expect) they are not suspended and separate from His plan for us. They are not a blot or stain on the tapestry that is our life. They are the details. They are the swirls and curves of golden thread throughout that make our tapestry our own. It’s the unpleasant, uncomfortable times when we exercise this important muscle of fearing the Lord. Because when we fear the Lord, there is nothing left to fear.

Romans 8:38 “I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor ruling spirits, nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers, nothing above us, nothing below us, nor anything else in the whole world will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

So what was it about David that made him a man after God’s own heart? Humility, Proximity, and the knowledge that fearing God meant there was nothing in this world left to fear.