Fearing God

It's been a while since I have read the book of Exodus, so I thought I'd go through it again.  I really like Exodus because it is God communicating His character to the people of Israel.  I need these very same reminders of God and who He is so that I am worshiping the one and only true God rather than a God of my own creation.  I love the simplicity of the coorelation between fearing God and God's blessing.  Please note that God's blessing doesn't necessarily mean that life will be easy and all will go as we desire, but His blessing is always best.  While what God does is infinitely complex, He has also made our lives quite simple: fear God and keep His commandments.  This is a pretty neat practical application of fearing God:

Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other was named Puah; and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live... So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very mighty. Because the midwives feared God, He established households for them.

God specifically recorded that He was good to the midwives because they feared the Lord and obeyed Him rather than men. I firmly believe that He recorded this so that we can learn from their good example and commit to obeying Him. May He give us this kind of boldness and courage knowing that fearing the Lord and obeying Him will always be best--no exceptions!