When Seeing God Rightly Changes Everything
In the previous message posted earlier this week, we considered how familiarity with holy things can cause us to lose our wonder at God.
Uzzah had lived near the ark, yet proximity had not necessarily produced reverence.
Obed-Edom received the ark into his household, and God’s blessing became evident.
The sons of Korah came to treasure even the threshold of God’s house because the presence of God had become more precious to them than position.
But holy awe does more than transform how we approach God.
It transforms how we live.
When God becomes greater in our sight, everything else is reordered.
Our pain is no longer the centre.
Our qualifications are no longer our identity.
The opinions of people no longer govern us.
Our comfort is no longer our highest goal.
Our lives become centred on God and God alone.
1. Holy Awe Makes Us Burn for the Gospel
It was this very awe of God that caused the apostles to burn with a deep desire to take the gospel to many.
It was this reverence that enabled them to remain focused on the gospel despite rejection, persecution, imprisonment and numerous hardships.
They had seen the risen Christ.
They knew whom they had believed.
The glory of God had become greater to them than their personal comfort, safety or reputation.
They could not remain silent about what they had seen and heard.
Holy awe did not make them passive.
It compelled them to proclaim Christ.
This week, I was reading Paul’s declaration in Acts 20:22–24:
“And now I am on my way to Jerusalem, bound in my spirit, not knowing what I will encounter there, except that in town after town the Holy Spirit testifies to me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me. But I count my life of no value to myself, so that I may finish the course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.”
Paul knew that chains and afflictions were waiting for him.
Yet he pressed on.
His central concern was not how he could preserve his comfort, protect his reputation or avoid suffering.
He wanted to finish the course and complete the ministry he had received from the Lord Jesus.
Paul pressed on with a single-minded focus, not on himself, but on Jesus.
This is what holy awe produces.
When we truly see the greatness of God, our lives are no longer governed by self-preservation.
We begin to understand that our lives belong to Him.
Our calling belongs to Him.
Our future belongs to Him.
And our deepest desire becomes to finish faithfully whatever He has entrusted to us.
2. Holy Awe Enables Us to Worship While Wounded
We see this powerfully in Acts 16:22–34, when Paul and Silas were unjustly beaten and thrown into prison.
They had been severely beaten. Their feet had been fastened in the stocks, and their bodies were covered with painful wounds.
Yet at midnight, they were praying and singing hymns to God.
How could physically wounded men worship in such a place?
They were more conscious of the greatness of God than of the darkness surrounding them.
Their reverence for Him had not disappeared because their circumstances were painful.
Their bodies were imprisoned, but their hearts remained fixed upon God.
Then a violent earthquake shook the prison. The doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.
Paul and Silas could easily have seen this as their opportunity to escape.
After everything they had endured, no one could have blamed them for running.
Yet even when their own shackles were loosened, they remained focused on the salvation of the prison guard and his household.
When the jailer believed that the prisoners had escaped and was about to take his own life, Paul cried out:
“Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
Paul was still physically hurting from his many wounds.
Yet in that moment, his attention was not centred on his pain, his freedom or the injustice he had experienced.
His heart was focused on a soul who needed salvation.
That night, the jailer asked:
“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
Paul and Silas shared the word of the Lord with him and with everyone in his household.
The jailer washed their wounds, and he and his entire household were baptised.
This is what holy awe produces.
It causes us to worship when our circumstances give us every reason to complain.
It keeps us focused on the gospel when suffering tempts us to become consumed with ourselves.
It enables us to see the eternal need of another person even while we are experiencing our own pain.
Their chains had fallen, but their first concern was not escape.
Their bodies were wounded, but their focus remained on the salvation of others.
They were captivated by something greater than themselves.
They were captivated by God.
When God becomes great in our sight, our pain does not disappear.
Paul and Silas still had wounds.
They still needed care.
The jailer later washed their wounds.
But their wounds did not become the centre of their world.
Their suffering did not blind them to the soul standing before them.
Holy awe enabled them to worship while wounded and to remain available for God’s purposes in the middle of their pain.
3. Holy Awe Reorders What We Value
It was also this awe of God that caused Paul to look at everything he had once considered valuable and declare it to be nothing in comparison with Christ.
Paul had qualifications, religious pedigree, status and privileges.
He had reasons to place confidence in his own accomplishments.
Yet after encountering Jesus, he wrote in Philippians 3:7:
“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.”
He continued in verse 8:
“I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
Paul did not merely add Jesus to everything he already valued.
The surpassing greatness of knowing Christ completely reordered the value of everything else.
His qualifications were no longer his identity.
His privileges were no longer his confidence.
His accomplishments were no longer the measure of his worth.
He had seen the glory of Jesus, and everything else had become small in comparison.
This is what happens when holy awe fills our hearts.
We do not have to be repeatedly persuaded to surrender.
We have seen that He is worthy.
We do not have to be forced to share the gospel.
We long for others to know the One who has become more precious to us than life itself.
We do not abandon our calling when hardship comes.
We remain faithful because our eyes are fixed upon the One for whom we live.
When Christ becomes our surpassing treasure, we no longer live merely to protect our credentials, position or reputation.
We can use whatever God has placed in our hands.
We can steward our education, experience, abilities, influence and opportunities for His glory.
But these things no longer define us.
Jesus does.
Our worth is no longer measured by what we have achieved.
Our security is no longer rooted in what we possess.
Our identity is no longer dependent upon what others recognise in us.
We have found something infinitely greater.
We have found the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord.
4. Holy Awe Frees Us From the Fear of Man
It is also this holy awe that causes us to fear people no more and frees us from the need to please them.
When God becomes our central focus, the opinions of people begin to lose their power over us.
We are no longer constantly asking:
“What will they think of me?”
“Will they approve of me?”
“Will they accept me?”
“Will I lose their favour if I obey God?”
Our attention becomes fixed on God and God alone.
Paul wrote in Galatians 1:10:
“If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
The fear of man causes us to compromise, remain silent and adjust our obedience according to the reactions of others.
It can cause us to disobey God quietly while appearing respectable before people.
It can cause us to speak when God has asked us to remain silent.
It can cause us to remain silent when God has asked us to speak.
It can cause us to seek human approval more earnestly than we seek the pleasure of God.
But the fear of God gives us courage to remain faithful, even when obedience costs us approval, acceptance, position or reputation.
The apostles could continue preaching even when they were threatened because they had settled within their hearts whom they feared and whom they would obey.
They declared in Acts 5:29:
“We must obey God rather than human beings!”
They were not arrogant or disrespectful towards people.
They simply refused to give people the place that belonged to God.
This is what holy awe does.
It brings God back to the centre.
His voice becomes greater than every other voice.
His pleasure becomes more important than human praise.
His approval becomes more precious than acceptance from the crowd.
His will becomes more important than our comfort, reputation or security.
The fear of man asks:
“How can I preserve myself?”
The fear of God asks:
“How can I remain faithful to Him?”
The fear of man causes us to look around constantly.
The fear of God fixes our eyes upon the Lord.
The fear of man makes people large and God small.
Holy awe restores God to His rightful place in our hearts.
This does not mean that we stop loving people.
It does not mean that we become harsh, insensitive or dismissive of others.
Rather, we become free to love people without needing them to validate us.
We become free to serve without demanding recognition.
We become free to speak truth without being controlled by the possibility of rejection.
We become free to obey God even when others misunderstand our obedience.
We honour people, but we worship God alone.
5. Holy Awe Gives Us a Single-Minded Focus
When God becomes our central focus, we are no longer pulled in every direction by the desire to be admired, recognised, accepted or understood.
Our lives begin to say:
“You alone are worthy.”
“You alone have the final word.”
“You alone will receive my obedience.”
Holy awe does not paralyse us.
It sets our hearts on fire.
It causes us to worship in the prison.
It keeps us focused on the gospel through suffering.
It enables us to see another person’s eternal need even while we are hurting.
It causes us to count earthly gain as loss compared with knowing Christ.
It frees us from the fear of people.
It gives us courage to obey God regardless of the cost.
When we truly see God for who He is, we no longer need to make ourselves great in the eyes of people.
We no longer have to perform for their applause.
We no longer have to compromise in order to belong.
Our central focus becomes God and God alone.
A Life Governed by Holy Awe
Dear friend, what governs your life today?
Is it the fear of failure?
The fear of rejection?
The fear of what people may say or think?
The fear of losing your comfort, position or reputation?
Or is your heart being governed by a holy awe of God?
The apostles were able to endure hardship because they had seen the glory of Christ.
Paul pressed on towards Jerusalem because finishing the ministry entrusted to him mattered more than preserving his life.
Paul and Silas could worship in prison because their confidence was not rooted in their circumstances.
They remained focused on the jailer’s salvation because their own pain had not become the centre of their world.
Paul could count his privileges as loss because knowing Jesus had become more valuable than everything else.
The apostles could stand before threats without compromising because the approval of God mattered more than the approval of people.
God had become greater to them than what they suffered.
May this same holy awe fill our hearts.
May we become more conscious of God than of the prison around us.
May we become more concerned about the salvation of others than about preserving our own comfort.
May knowing Christ become more precious to us than every qualification, privilege, accomplishment or earthly reward.
May the approval of God become more important to us than the applause of people.
May we count our lives as belonging wholly to Him.
May we finish the course and fulfil the ministry He has entrusted to us.
May our lives be centred on God and God alone.
Prayer
O Father, restore within me a holy awe of You.
Open my eyes to see You rightly.
You are the King of kings and the Lord of lords. You are holy, sovereign and worthy of all honour. You hold my future, my life and every breath I take in Your hands.
Deliver me from the fear of people and from the need for their approval.
Free me from the desire to be praised, recognised or understood.
Let Your voice be greater than every other voice and Your pleasure more precious to me than the applause of people.
Set my heart wholly upon You, Father.
May Your presence become more precious to me than position, comfort, success or reputation.
May I desire to know You more than I desire anything You can give me.
Let everything I once considered gain become small in the light of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
Give me a heart that worships You in the prison, trusts You in the valley and remains faithful through hardship.
When I am wounded, disappointed or misunderstood, keep me from becoming consumed with myself.
Open my eyes to the people around me who still need to encounter Your saving grace.
May my pain never become so great in my sight that I lose sight of Your greatness.
Set my heart on fire for the gospel.
Give me courage to speak when You ask me to speak, to remain silent when You ask me to remain silent and to obey You regardless of the cost.
Help me to count my life as belonging wholly to You.
Enable me to finish the course and fulfil the ministry You have entrusted to me.
I want to worship You and You alone.
I want to live with a single-minded focus on You, Jesus.
Purify my heart and make it tender towards the conviction of Your Spirit.
Teach me to walk in step with You every day, to love what You love, to hate what grieves Your heart and to find my deepest joy in being near You.
May I never become so focused on my pain that I fail to see the soul before me.
May I never value my qualifications, privileges or accomplishments more than the surpassing privilege of knowing You.
May I never give people the place in my heart that belongs to You alone.
Let my life proclaim that You alone are worthy.
In the precious and mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Amen.