During my first 3 years in Uganda, I had occasional contact with blood as I held dying children, helped to dress wounds and open tumors, and sought to comfort AIDS and cancer patients.

My understanding was that as long as there was no exchange of bodily fluids or blood, I was at zero risk for contracting HIV. It therefore came as a terrifying shock to me when, during the summer of 2010, a doctor found my white blood cell count was dangerously low, possibly indicating that I had acquired HIV. Though a subsequent HIV test came back “negative,” it took me several days to recover from the fear I had experienced while anxiously awaiting the results.

Fear can cause grown men and women to tremble (Exodus 20:18), and it can cause such paranoia that even “the sound of a leaf driven by the wind” sends him or her diving for cover and running “as though fleeing from a sword” even when no one is in pursuit (Leviticus 26:36-37).

Fear can cause ulcers, heart attacks, and other health maladies. It can also prevent us from taking steps of faith or lead us to acts of desperation. There are many positive effects that fear can produce when properly directed. Fear of God, for example, “will keep you from sinning!” (Exodus 20:19-21). Fearing God in a reverent manner and obeying His commands also positions us to receive God’s blessings (Deuteronomy 6:24).

The “fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom” (Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 9:10), and helps us “escape from the snares of death” (Proverbs 14:27). “Fear of the Lord,” Proverbs 19:23 says, is to be embraced, for it “leads to life, bringing security and protection from harm.”

Make it your goal to let fear work in your favor, by fearing God above all else.

NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: 2 Samuel 18:1-18