One of the great benefits of the fear of the Lord is that holy fear teaches us how to properly relate to what God has spoken.
• We often talk about the promises of God.
• We quote them.
• We sing about them.
• We encourage one another with them.

But what happens when what God has said and what we presently see do not appear to agree? What happens when there is a promise—but there is also a problem? What happens when the inspired written Word declares one thing, but our experience appears to be telling us something completely different?

This is where we must be very careful to remain devoted to our worship in Spirit and in Truth. Developing our spiritual ear to hear what the Spirit is saying is Life! Because without realizing it, we can begin interpreting the inspired written Word through our experiences rather than interpreting our experiences through His inspired written Word.
• We prayed—and nothing seemed to happen.
• We are convinced we believe—and the circumstances became worse.
• Someone else prayed—and didn’t receive the outcome they expected.

Eventually we can begin adjusting our theology to accommodate our disappointments.

But there is a tremendous difference between submitting to the leading of the Holy Spirit and using His sovereignty as an explanation for our present lack of response or active resistance spiritually.
• Keep in mind, we should never attempt to convince Jesus to fulfill something He has not promised. Neither should we presume that every desire in our heart represents His will.

However, when Jesus has clearly spoken, faith does not allow present circumstances to have greater authority than His Spoken Word to us.

We must not allow our experience to interpret what Jesus is speaking to us; we must allow His Voice to interpret our experience. Holy fear brings us into agreement with Jesus, faith refuses to surrender His Commands to circumstances, and prayer becomes the place where we participate with His Will being done on earth as it is in heaven.