Healthy Fear

​​A Reflection on the Psalm for Sunday, December 28th, 2025:
The Feast of the Holy Family

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Psalm 128

R. Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways.

Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways. You shall eat the fruit of the labour of your hands; you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you.

R. Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways.

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.

R. Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways.

Thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. The Lord bless you from Zion. May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.

R. Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways.

​​Pause. Pray. Reflect.

As someone who has lived with anxiety for as long as I can remember, fear far too often drives how I live my life. I worry about work, finances, my prayer life, my health, friendships, family, you name it. And I never feel good about myself after letting fear decide. Even in the moment, I know that the temporary relief I feel when giving in will soon be replaced with regret that I didn’t stick to my values, act with courage, or say what I really wanted to say. 

I know lots of people struggle with the idea of fear of the Lord. When I taught Confirmation preparation classes, I often spoke about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and this one was by far the one that confused people the most. Why would God want us to be scared of Him? Some people are so uncomfortable with this idea that they rename it to “reverent awe” or “amazement of the Lord”. But I think this is an area of faith where my disordered relationship with anxiety has helped me, because I love praying on the fear of the Lord! 

When I worked with teens, I often compared fear of the Lord to the healthy fear a child has of disappointing their parents. As a kid, nothing was worse than realizing I’d been caught doing something I knew my parents expected me not to do. A sinking feeling of guilt would sit in my stomach like lead. I wanted my parents to think of me as mature, responsible, and kind – and when I failed to live up to their expectations, I wasn’t scared of them, but of the disappointment I knew they’d feel and the way our relationship was now damaged and in need of repair. 

This, to me, is what I think of when I read about fear of the Lord. God doesn’t want us to be scared of Him, but heartbroken when we damage our relationship to Him – as heartbroken as He is when we pull away from Him. Like any good parent, He will of course forgive us when we inevitably make mistakes and fall short. But as the Psalmist writes, if we fear the Lord, we will choose wisely far more often, and choosing wisely will bring us happiness and prosperity in every facet of our lives. Fearing the Lord is not a formula – insert sufficient fear, receive equal gift. It’s a relationship: focus on God first, and He will fill us to overflowing with joy and grace. 

And here’s the thing, as an anxious person: unlike the voice of fear that comes from inside of me, the choices I make because I fear the Lord are never the ones I regret. Following His laws, choosing to love others even when it’s hard, stepping out in courage even though I’m scared. Living in healthy fear of God is so much more beautiful than living in unhealthy fear of anything else.




Jenna Young​

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