the fear of the Lord

it's been stormy around here a lot lately. last night, as I was walking back to the practice room, it was lightning profusely, but there was no rain to be felt or thunder to be heard. a slight, eerie wind blew occasionally, but otherwise it was pretty calm. I began thinking about the other day when a friend of mine was talking about how much she loved thunder, and kind of wondered to myself how she did. don't get me wrong, I love storms. but they also scare me. I love the pounding rain, and the bright-veined lightning and rumbling thunder. I love how it scares me with its beauty... how I realize that I'll never fully comprehend the way it works or how a streak of lightning reaches down to earth and catches things on fire. I stand in awe of its beauty but tremble in fear of its power.

and it hit me, that's kind of what the fear of the Lord is, I think. It's not actually being scared of God, but having that awe-inspired mind by the way His voice thunders and mercy pours down on us. it's realizing that we'll never fully understand Him. it's seeing His works and being afraid of the power we realize He holds, because we know how filthy and unrighteous we are in front of his spotless perfection.