Well, perfect love cast out fear, and the one who fears is not perfected in love, and yet the one who is humble and trembles at His word is the one to whom He will look. I think we've all been there. We've been terrified at His Word, been stopped dead in my tracks by His Word, been deeply comforted by love in His Word, and have jumped for victorius joy in His Word! It is the Living Word of God! And if it ceases to move me I need to wake up. Unfortunately I'm not perfected in love, yet. I still have doubting moments from time to time, and still have fears from time to time.
Fear, Fearful, Fearfulness (some highlights from Vine's)
1. Phobos
b)reverential fear, (I) of God, as a controlling motive of the life, in matters spiritual and moral, not a mere fear of His power and righteous retribution, but a wholesome dread of displeasing Him, a fear which banishes the terror that shrinks from His presence, Rom 8:15, and which influences the disposition and attitude of one whose circumstances are guided by trust in God, through the indwelling Spirit of God, Acts 9:31; Rom. 3:18; 2 Cor. 7:1; Eph. 5:21 (R.V., "fear of Christ
; Phil. 2:12; 1 Peter 1:17 (a comprehensive phrase: the reverential fear of God will inspire a constant carefulness in dealing with others in His fear) ; 3:2,15 ; the association of "fear and trembling," as e.g., in Phil. 2:12, has in the Sept. a much sterner import, e.g., Gen 9:2 ; Ex. 15:16 ; Deut. 2:25 ; 11:25 ; Ps. 55:5 ; Is. 19:16 ; (2) of superiors, e.g., Rom. 13:7 ; 1 Peter 2:18 See TERROR.
2. DEILIA fearfulness, (from deos, fright) is rightly rendered "fearfulness" in 2 Tim. 1:7, R.V. ( for A.V., "fear"). That spirit is not given us of God. The word denotews cowardice and timidity and is never used in a good sense, as No. 1 is.
We have to remember in our souls that we have been brought near by the precious blood of Christ, and that if we take our eyes off of Him we start to sink. May the love and peace of Christ dwell richly with all of our spirits,
mike
1 John 4:18 Bible Commentary
probably the best way I've heard ' to fear the Lord' defined outside of what I've felt would be "to shrink back in awe, and to lean foreward in wonder," uknown.