Fear that Transforms

Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles (Acts 2:43 NKJV).

At first glance it may seem like the disciples have reverted back to the Upper Room scenario, where they were all huddled in fear for their lives, waiting on the day of Pentecost.  It only takes a quick glimpse at a few other versions of this text to realize that this “fear” was not at all like the fear they experienced prior to Pentecost.  In fact, this fear indicates a kind of “awe” or wonder.  The Amplified version expounds on the meaning by saying it is a “reverential fear.”  And we would learn an important lesson if we note carefully the order of this passage.  The fear – or awe – came first and then the signs and wonders.

Too many people today are stuck in the rut of wanting to see God do something miraculous before they will give Him the reverence He is due.  They fail to realize that we owe God reverence simply because He is God, not because He can perform miracles.  If the Gospel has been watered down at all in our society – and it surely has – it would be diminished most in this area of the person of God.  People tend to make Him a super hero or magician.  They believe in a God who created the Universe, working with the process of evolution.  A God who used tricks and slight of hand, or super hero powers, to pull off the wonders of creation and the supernatural protection of Israel as recounted in the stories throughout the Old Testament. 

That would be a mistake.  God is no super hero and He is absolutely not a magician.  He did not create the Universe through the process of evolution.  On the contrary, He created it out of nothing.  He is the great I AM – the One who has existed before time began.  In fact, He is the One who created even time, space, matter, and energy – all of it.  From the vast expanse of the Universe to the most minute, immeasurable field of quantum physics, every planet, star, galaxy, universe, atom, subatomic particle, and beyond was brought into existence by the mere Word of God.   And in the midst of all the miraculous composition that we know and that which we don’t even have a clue exists, He created man – the most complex creature known today.  Then, in what has to be His most profound and outrageous display of power ever, He became incarnate, walked among us, suffered for us, and ultimately gave His very own life to redeem us. 

It is quite clear that we could never comprehend, no matter how much others may try and explain Him, all that it means to be God.  And it is in this inexplicable vacuum of understanding, we experience the awe of the first church in Acts 2:43.  And in the moment that truth hits our soul, we experience the greatest miracle of all – salvation.  At that moment, we are reconnected with our Creator, indwelt by His Spirit, empowered by His grace, and it becomes only logical that signs and wonders follow.

Today, I must lock onto the fact that the God who I will never be able to totally comprehend indwells me – for the purpose of reaching the world around me.  I need to let the awe of that thought allow Him do what only He can do through me.