Is my extreme fear of God unhealthy?

Question

I know in Proverbs it says "Fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom.." BUT I am terrified..I love God but people tell me I am very hard on myself I keep imagining a scenario that when I die I am going to be chewed out for every wicked deed and lack of action of stuff I should have done that I am very scared, I had dreams where I descended to hell. I am very scared does this mean he is very angry with me? I have been missing church because I work a night shift but I pray a few times a week and have been doing my best but I dont know if my best is good enough and think the devil might be tricking me making me think I am doing my best when I could be doing better in terms of following the ten commandments and helping others....any verses or insight or anyone else ever experience this? I dont want to go to hell I have been there in my dreams and have been committed to mental hospitals before because I am manic-depressive, how can i make it so God isnt mad at me anymore?

With all du respect I am not being paranoid, I am Catholic and have done many mortal sins that I am trying to quit, I do beleive and go to confession but I cant arrive at point where i dont remiss into those mortal sins I am terriefied I will die with the unforgiven mortal sins on my soul.

Answer 1

(1 John 4:16) . . .God is love, and he that remains in love remains in union with God and God remains in union with him.

The fear of God is healthful; it is an awe and a profound reverence for the Creator and a wholesome dread of displeasing him. This fear of incurring his displeasure is a result of appreciation of his loving-kindness and goodness together with the realization that he is the Supreme Judge and the Almighty, who has the power to inflict punishment or death upon those who disobey him.

It is not a morbid fear that tears down; “the fear of Jehovah is pure.” (Ps 19:9) This fear is defined thus at Proverbs 8:13: “The fear of Jehovah means the hating of bad.” It will prevent one from following a bad course, for “in the fear of Jehovah one turns away from bad.”—Pr 16:6.

God isn't mad with you.
(James 1:13)  When under trial, let no one say: “I am being tried by God.” For with evil things God cannot be tried nor does he himself try anyone.

Do not let your dreams control your life.
(Psalm 73:20) Like a dream after awaking, O Jehovah, [So] when arousing [yourself] you will despise their very image.

Besides you don't have to be afraid of hell; it's just the resting place of the dead and there is no torment found there.
(Ecclesiastes 9:5) For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all, neither do they anymore have wages, because the remembrance of them has been forgotten.
(Acts 2:26-27) Moreover, even my flesh will reside in hope; because you will not leave my soul in Hades (Hell), neither will you allow your loyal one to see corruption.

When we die we go to sleep until the day of the resurection; we are not aware of anything. (John 11:11) He said these things, and after this he said to them: “Lazarus our friend has gone to rest, but I am journeying there to awaken him from sleep.”

I hope these scriptures easy your soul and give you some peace.

If you need more encouragement email me. (Hebrews 10:24-25)  And let us consider one another to incite to love and fine works, not forsaking the gathering of ourselves together, as some have the custom, but encouraging one another, and all the more so as YOU behold the day drawing near.

Answer 2

I understand all these quesitons because I've been there done that. I know now that satan is working to create all this fear because he knows how it trips us up. You need to concentrate on the uplifting promises of God, find all the positive you can. There's a lot in Psalms. When the Bible talks about the "fear of the Lord" the word fear means awe, or respect. Think about that meaning when reading the word fear. Its not so hard to think about respecting God, of being amazed at his Glory. Be determined to believe that God is totally Good, he wants the best for you, he is completely fair and it would actually hurt him to think that someone is afraid of him.
May God guide you through this.

Answer 3

The Lord loves you. God has not given you the spirit of fear, but of power love and a sound mind. Satan is a liar and he is an accuser of the bretheren. Find a pentecostal church that believes in being baptized in "The Name of Jesus" and filled with the Holy Ghost and speaking in tongues as the spirit of God gives utterance. You need prayer. If you have access to the internet. Find a website for Pentecostal Assemblies of the World and they will have a listing of churches in your state. The only way to escape hell is to be born again of the water and of the spirit. I love you and will be praying for you "Snox" and calling your name out in prayer. When you pray ask the Lord to direct you to a pentecostal church where you can get prayer.

Answer 4

This is so not healthy.

I have said before that religion can make an existing psychosis worse. I don’t think there is anything I can say to you to make you stop worrying. I would like you to let your fear go and allow yourself to question these ridiculous superstitions. If you do, you will find how unlikely the existence of a god is. I know you probably won’t listen, but I tried.

Good luck and I hope you do okay. It’s bipolar disorder. There are a lot of great people who have it and can cope with the help of meds. :-)


















Edit:

Well, I would have to have more info aside from this to give you better advice than that. I bet you are being a little over dramatic about whatever it is. What did you do? Kill someone?

Answer 5

Perhaps God is trying to tell you something. A God fearing person who knows his/her sins of the past and still repents for them is the one that God guides. Maybe if you further your research in your religion instead of just adopting what your parents taught u would be better. Not everyone is born into the Right religion. Remember that and discover your Creator. Dont take Him for Granted....

Answer 6

Just because you have these dreams does not necessarily mean that God is angry with you. It is your own fear manifesting itself in your dreams - as so many of us often experience. God loves you unconditionally. Think of him as a parent - for that is what most faiths preach, is it not? Father God and all that. Would your dad be mad that you missed a meeting of people you don't know very well because you had to work - because you had a responsibility? I think not. Try not to worry about it so much, and be assured that he loves you unconditionally.

Answer 7

When the Bible speaks of fearing God is is talking about a healthy respect...like the respect you would have standing on the edge of the ocean. Your not scared of it, but if a storm approaches, you respect the power it can produce and seek shelter.

Your fear comes from a lack of understanding in the finality of the cross. Christs death on the cross was for all sins, past, present and future. How many of your sins were "future tense" 2000 years ago? All of them. The cross was needed to give salvation. It wasnt' salvation in and of itself, but produced the environment necessary to give salvation. Salvation is life. The Holy Spirit taking up residence in your spirit. A literal endwelling of the Spirit of God residing in your spirit. Coming in you. If God had not dealt with the "sin issue" 2000 years ago, He could not give you life because your sins would kill you.

The wages of sin is death.

The sin issue had to be dealt with so that God could give you life....the only real cure for death.

Romans 5:10 ...much more being reconcilled by the death of Christ are we saved by His LIFE.

When you realize that your sins were dealt with at the cross 2000 years, and that salvation is His LIFE, you will not fear God like you do. You will have a healthy respect for God and not a terrifying horror. God did not want that for you. He wanted a real relationship with you. He can't have that if you are too afraid to be motivated in love by Him. How can you approach the throne of grace if you are fearful of condemnation? You can't and God knows this.

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Christ took how many of them? ALL! All of them at the cross. So live in peace and know you can approach the Throne of Grace without shame or guilt or "fear" like you had before.

Answer 8

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

You are having a faith in God problem. You need to trust in God. He loves you sooo much. When a person is born of God (born again), person can't do anything to make himself more or less righteous. Because once a person receives the gift of eternal life by confessing Jesus Christ ones Lord and believing in ones heart the atonement for sins and Resurrection from the dead, Christian has put on the righteousness of Christ. God sees Christ righteousness.

You also need to wear your spiritual armor (Ephesians 6), because you are being intimidated by the devil. God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of sound mind. God gives us assurance in our spirit that God is our Heavenly Father and we are His children.

Ask God why you have dreams of descending to hell. Once, I had a horror dream right after Al zaqari (terrorist) died. I questioned Jesus why I had such a horrid nightmare. Jesus was glad I had that dream. That terrorists go to a place of terror, and am I glad Al Zaquari went to hell? I only had a few seconds of terror in my dream, but not so for those that truly end up there. So, of course I am not glad anyone goes to a place of terror and pray that they be found where they are hiding, caught & imprisoned and given the oportunity to come to Gods saving Grace, through faith in Christ Jesus.

Answer 9

He isn't mad at you....your fear comes from the depression. Therapy should help with that, but if you are catholic or some other hard religion that doesn't preach salvation by grace I would seriously consider doing some reading on your own.....just read the new testament and relax when you do....when you've read that start at Genesis......but you must relax and ask for the ears to hear and the eyes to see......

Answer 10

When I first got saved I was terrified of him too and thought he was going to kill me for sinning. When the Bible says fear it means to respect him and do what he says. The Bible also says there is no fear in love. He wants us to obey him because we love him and not out of fear. He does hate sin but he loves us. Trust me if you repent of your sins and try your best he is happy with you. Ask Jesus to save you and have faith that he will save you from hell and from wrath and God will not be mad at you at all.