Fear.
We live in a constant state of fear.
Fear of what others think.
Fear of messing up.
Fear of disappointment.
Fear of saying the wrong thing.
Fear of doing the wrong thing.
Fear of judgment.
Fear of loneliness.
Fear of loss.
Fear of rejection.
Fear of the past.
Fear of the future.
Fear of failure.
Fear of not being enough.
Any of these ringing true with you?
On a more personal level: Take this morning, in campus worship. I live in fear of needing water in the middle of a song and not having it onstage because it ruins the aesthetic (you laugh but this is true). I live in fear of walking up to the mic and completely forgetting everything I had planned to say and having 700 people stare at me while I stare back at them blankly. On a more serious note, I live in fear of singing the wrong words. I live in fear of praying something “wrong.” I live in fear that my prayers or my worship leadership skills won’t be “enough” to meet the needs of the students in attendance. Honestly, I live in fear that as a whole I am not enough for worship.
This morning I almost let that fear take over.
But today I was reminded of a simple truth: God doesn’t call us to fight our own battles, He calls us to worship.
Okay backup Meagan, what does that mean?! It means that when we are afraid, God doesn’t want us to fight our own battles. He wants us to surrender our battles over to Him and let HIM fight FOR us. Meanwhile, our only task is to worship Him. Simple enough, right?
I can tell you one thing—that was really hard to do this morning. I shared with another person on my team that I woke up feeling really spiritually attacked for one reason or another this morning and for some reason I just couldn’t shake it. The attack today took the form of fear and I took that fear in with me to worship which then hindered me from really giving my all to the songs I was leading in the service.
My only job in that moment was to simply worship God, and for some reason all I wanted to do was try to fix everything that was going on in my own head. I think that’s human nature, to fix things on our own. But the thing is, I couldn’t. I couldn’t fix it, I couldn’t shake the feeling of fear—we were literally singing my favorite worship song and I still had this insane but very real fear in the back of my head that I was going to mess up the words and that worship was going to be hindered and that people were going to judge me—I know it sounds silly but I promise I had all of these thoughts!!! Looking back I can’t believe I couldn’t see the solution—if I had just let myself sink into worship, if I had just listened closer to the words I was singing, that fear might have left me sooner.
I want to reiterate something I already said, not to like hammer it into anyone else’s head but really to hammer it into my own.
I could not fight the battle of fear on my own.
And there’s biblical evidence for that, too (stay tuned).
In 2 Chronicles chapter 20, Jehoshaphat king of Judah was addressing the people of Judah, who had come together from every town to seek help from the Lord about this huge impending battle (verse 4). At the end of his address, the king says, “For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (2 Chronicles 20:12).
I love the end of Jehoshaphat’s prayer because it rings just as true to all of our personal battles as it does to Judah’s giant battle. I’ve spoken before about how a big personal battle for me is inadequacy, but God is showing me again and again through scripture and experiences and people that if I am with Him, I am adequate. I also love the second part of the verse because it admits that sometimes we do not know what to do, and instead of trying to figure it out on his own king Jehoshaphat is like “God I’m watching for Your direction in this.” Reminds me that this is what I should be doing as well!
And then, get this. Don’t miss this part. Verse 18: “Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord.”
What did they do? Did they sit there and panic? Did they spend the next moments planning for their battle and stressing about everything that was to come? Did they ask a million questions of God about what to do next? Did they have fear? NO. They paused, and worshiped the Lord, because that is what God calls us to do. He doesn’t call us to fight our own battles, he calls us to worship.
With God, we have Power over Fear.
“So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 7b-10 (emphasis added)
God’s grace is sufficient for us. His power is perfected in weakness. Notice the wording. His power is not hindered by our weakness, it is not altered in any way—in contrast, it is PERFECTED by our weakness.
The world makes fear out to be something to be ashamed of. It makes things like anxiety and insecurities things to tuck away in our minds, only to come out at night when we are alone and submerged in our deepest thoughts. THIS SHOULD NOT BE A THING. I believe wholeheartedly in transparent conversation and realness of talk, and it seems as though Paul did too. We should be boasting of our weaknesses because when we are weak, Christ is strong for us.
…
This song has been really special to me these past two weeks with the transition back to life in Birmingham. I think it really says so much with so few words, and if you can get to Spotify or Apple Music or iTunes and listen to it, trust me, you should.
Holy Ground, Passion
Here as we wait
Seek Your face
Come and make Your throne upon our praise
Here in this place
Have Your way
The moment that we see You, we are changed
Show us Your glory
Show us Your glory
In wonder and surrender we fall down
Show us Your glory
Show us Your glory
Let every burning heart be holy ground
Here, not by power
Not by might
But only by the cross we come alive
Here, we’re undone
Overcome
By heaven’s love revealed before our eyes
Show us Your glory
Show us Your glory
In wonder and surrender we fall down
Show us Your glory
Show us Your glory
Let every burning heart be holy ground
Show us Your glory
Show us Your glory
In wonder and surrender we fall down
Show us Your glory
Show us Your glory
Let every burning heart be holy ground
Chains fall
Fear bow
Here, now
Jesus, you change everything
Lives healed
Hope found
Here, now
Jesus, you change everything
Chains fall
Fear bow
Here, now
Jesus, you change everything
Lives healed
Hope found
Here, now
Jesus, you change everything
…
xoxox, meg
meaganleighkennedy 