Who is to be Feared?

Isaiah 51:7-8 NIV

“Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have taken my instruction to heart: Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals or be terrified by their insults.  For the moth will eat them up like a garment; the worm will devour them like wool. But my righteousness will last forever, my salvation through all generations.”

There is a fear that is common these days: it is the fear of all thingd unknown and uncertain. Whatever we have not seen, heard, touched or felt makes us fear. We fear our children going out in the streets lest they be knocked down, we fear to take risks today, fearing that it may not work out so good. We fear to completely trust God, tryjng hard to ensure that we balance our scales, trusting God for the convenient and the issues, but ensuring that we put structures in place to ensure that in case God doesn't come true, at least, all will not be lost. We have mastered the art of deception: telling God with our mouths that we trust him, but telling him with our lives and actions that we can take care of a few things without his help.
For as many that know and respect their limitations, and have come to understand the limitless and boundless power and wisdom of God, today's passage puts in clear terms, the need to properly and completely trust the wisdom and power of God.
One thing that must be settled is this: you have got to know God. Many of us are content with what others tell us about God. We rely on third-party experiences to determine our knowledge of God, we wait for people's opinions and comments before we can form a view about God. We must seek him and find him for ourselves. As we know more of God, the more he shows himself strong in our lives. Seek him out for yourself: you can only know someone only as much as you spend time with the person. Someone elsse can't tell you much about God because if he has limited knowledge too, he will only give you out of his limited knowledge. But when you seek out this God, he shows you deep and hidden things, so that you can have a healthy fear for Him and hold his name in awe.
Secondly, you must settle this in your heart: God and fear of man cannot reside in the same heart. If you live your life in the light of people's expectations, God can never be glorified in your life because carnal man's preferences are ALWAYS contrary to God's expectations. How, then, can both co-exist?. You must make a decision today: fear God and really be free, or fear man and live your entire life trying to earn the approval of mortal and inconsistent man.
The end indeed justifies the means. If the end of man is dust, and God's righteousness and salvation last through the ages, then the choice is clear. God is pre-eminent and eternal, man, at his best, is still trust. Fear God and fear nothing else; fear man, and you will have God and everything else to fear. His time of favour is here.