Fear *of* God, not Fear of *God*

I've always struggled with the phrase "fear of God." Being afraid of Him Who is our loving Heavenly Father has always seemed paradoxical to me. And while having fear of God could mean being afraid of God, it could just as easily mean having the same kind of fear that God has. And you may be asking, What does God have to fear? He's all knowing and all powerful. This is all true but I believe that Godly fear would be as different from our mortal fears as Godly sorrow is different from worldly sorrow. What a loving Heavenly Father fears is that His children will suffer needlessly, that we'll reject His tender mercies and trust in our own foolishness rather than His wisdom. He fears that we will consider ourselves unworthy of His love or His saving grace. He fears that we will choose darkness over light, chaos instead of peace, pain rather than happiness. To have the fear of God means to have the fear that we and those we love will allow ourselves to be dragged down by the cares and miseries of this world. To have the fear of God is to be afraid that we will allow pride and doubt to stop us from returning home to our eternal family. Having the fear of God does not mean being afraid of God but being afraid with God. It means that the very thought of one of God's children not being saved fills us with inexpressible horror. It means we are anxiously engaged in inviting others to come unto Christ, because we are afraid that Heaven will not be complete without them in it.