Awe and reverential fear came to those who lived in the surrounding area where Zacharias and Elizabeth lived.  What caused this godly fear?

Zacharias had been silenced for over nine months – until he declared (by writing on a tablet) that his son’s name would be John at the ceremony of circumcision.  Then he began to speak…  (See Luke 1)
(NASB) Luke 1:64 “And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God.”

Those present were filled with — awe and reverential fear.  These events were out of the ordinary.  They believed in God, but God had been quiet for four hundred years.  No prophet had been called to speak God’s words in all that time.  Now the LORD God had begun to interact among His people again.

(NASB) Luke 1:65 “Fear came on all those living around them; and all these matters were being talked about in all the hill country of Judea.”

The fear of God is filled with awe of what He does and Who He is.  And the event took place in the hill country of Judea when Zacharias and Elizabeth had a baby boy.  God had sent a messenger to tell of this baby before he was conceived.  Reverential fear followed.

Fear, real palpable fear, (circumstantially induced fear) comes in natural disasters…there is no control over hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunami’s, earthquakes, rioting, etc.

Fear, when verbalized, takes on a life of its own.  Fears become gossip and gossip spreads like a wildfire.  The wildfire of fear leaps across the world via the internet today.

The wildfire of our imagination can easily be fueled by world events, even events within our own countries.  What is causing you to fear?  Leaders with their own agendas for power without regard for their people’s real needs…does that cause you to fear?  Leaders who do not believe in the living God of the Bible, who do not honor or recognize God…does that cause you to fear?

Riots, unruly protests, police crack-downs, lies of politicians, economics out of control, gas prices soaring, the housing market in meltdown, stock market uncertainties – do these cause you to fear?

What happens in one country affects many other nations – does this cause you to fear?
The LORD God is not even considered and if He is – He is disregarded as impotent and without belief in Him and His power.

For the followers of Christ – the LORD God is our place of refuge, He is worthy of our trust in His power, His plan and His purpose in the events of today’s world.
  For the followers of Christ – we are to be in awe and give God reverential fear.  He is greater than world events and natural disasters.

(NASB)  Psalm 56:10-11 “In God, whose word I praise,
In the LORD, whose word I praise,
11 In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?”