I Am Scared of God, NOT

Love

I am scared of God because I see Him as imposing and angry.  How do I get that out of my mind?  I have had this question a few times and at first I was shocked because I have never viewed God in that way. I was always taught that when I was punished or disciplined it was for my benefit and It truly was, because my parent's loved me. I had the benefit of knowing that beyond anything my parents loved me and even though it hurt at the time it was going to give me more opportunity to have a better life in the long run. Unfortunately not all people are brought up knowing this kind of love. Never was a more important declaration made than this... "God is love." God doesn’t just love; He is love. His nature and essence are love. Love permeates His very being and infuses all His other attributes, even His wrath and anger. When we see God as angry, it might help to realize that His anger is filtered through His great love.

Grace

If you have accepted Christ you are perfect in God’s sight, because when He looks at us, He sees Jesus. “For He has made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” - 2 Corinthians 5:21. All God’s wrath against our sin was poured out on Jesus on the cross, and He simply will not be angry with us ever again if we have placed our faith in Christ. He did this out of His great love for you.
The fact that God is loving does not cancel out His requirement of perfection. But because He is loving, He sent Christ to die on the cross in our place, and this completely satisfies God’s requirement of perfection. We should not be scared of God. Grace is unmerited favor, receiving an unearned gift.  The ultimate act of grace was Christ willingly dying on the cross so that all who believe in Him are forgiven and have eternal life.  He gave His life so that our souls will live eternally in Heaven with Him, God, and fellow believers.  We cannot earn our way to Heaven.  The only way is to accept the gift of Christ, accept His grace.  

Trust

We have no reason to be scared of Him. We have His promise that nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39). We have His promise that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). When the bible talks about fearing God it means having such a reverence for Him that it has a great impact on the way we live our lives. The fear of God is respecting Him, obeying Him, submitting to His discipline, and trusting him. Trust me, I feared the wrath of my Mother and Father but I never feared that they would ever hurt me or do anything to me that would not, in the long run, bring me closer to them. How much more will God do for you?