A wise friend of mine recently shared all the things she was learning about God as she endured an extremely difficult season in her life. She told me the most important thing.
“God’s been teaching me that I’m only allowed to fear one thing. I’m only allowed to fear God. I’m not allowed to fear the future, what other people think about me, or anything else. Just fear God.”
Since God is good and takes care of her at all times, deeply loving her, she only needs to worry about His opinion. She can focus exclusively on regarding God and not her circumstances.
I’m only allowed to fear God (and He loves me), and not this thing in front of me.
I remember Proverbs 9:10: The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.