New Dawn: Facing Fear 365Sample

Whether we are aware of it or not, we live our lives in worship to something.

There are people, activities or companies that we can put on a pedestal so high that we end up serving them as if they were gods. Celebrity culture, for example, elevates human beings to the status that should only be reserved for God. No human can handle the pressure of being a supreme being, and we can see the evidence of this as the pressure breaks people over and over again.

Whatever we worship in place of God reflects our fear. We may not be bowing down to golden statues like the Israelites in the Old Testament, but many of us look to work, relationships, money, or power for the security, identity and meaning that only God can provide. While careers, friendships, marriage, or children are wonderful gifts from God, when we make them our ultimate sources of satisfaction, they will be unable to withstand the weight of such expectation. Instead, we must look to God and His infinite love, to relieve our fears and fulfil our longings.

The choice presented throughout Scripture is a simple one in theory, even if it is complex to navigate daily. We can choose to worship – to give all our adoration and attention – to the things of God, who has the capacity to quench our thirst for affirmation. Or we can choose to give our worship to ‘things’ that were never built to love us in the ways our souls need.

What do you find yourself ‘worshipping’ today? How can you direct those desires towards God?