Fear Busting Worship

‘Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices.’ – Ezra 3: 3

From David King:

Not every post on this blog will be about COVID-19, but there are things we can learn from the experience for the future, in particular about what is the best way to deal with fear.

The people of God in the book of Ezra were in a very vulnerable place. Their threat wasn’t a faceless disease, but aggressive neighbours who threatened them when they were in a place of weakness.

What is striking here is their response. Faced with threat, their priority was not first and foremost to try to respond directly to the threat, it was to turn in worship to God. What do God’s people demonstrate when we respond to fear in this way? It shows that we are not trusting in our own strength and resources, which is a very fragile hope, but that we are trusting in God.

It is when faced with fear that we see what we truly believe. If our response is worship, it shows that we ultimately trust in the Living God. If it isn’t, then it suggests that our actual god lies elsewhere.

Why not use worship each day and each Sunday, to say to your heart that your trust is truly in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is on this sure and certain foundation, fuelled by worship, that our hearts will find true peace.