Worship
is a weapon. I
learned that recently. Never thought of
it quite that way before, but now that I have – I like it.
“Well you can keep
your little church songs lady… I like my Smith & Wesson in the weapons
department.” That’d be a fair and
logical response, just in case it floated through your mind. But here’s the thing, your Smith & Wesson
won’t help you fight FEAR. You need Worship
in your holster to defeat THAT enemy.
The frustrating thing about FEAR is that it keeps coming
back from the dead. I’ve had seasons in
my life when I’ve memorized enough scripture to SPEAK to the fear when it would
rise up in me – and I’d slay it that way.
But a few weeks later, the enemy would find new life and threaten to
overtake my joy… again. We have different
words for it, because afterall… who likes to admit FEAR? We call it “worry” or “anxiousness”, but at
the root of those things is plain ole FEAR.
We fear things we believe we cannot control.
That happened to me this week. A couple of events intertwined and caused
FEAR to rise up. I could feel it in my
throat. It has a wrench-like effect.
The first event was a very joyful one! Keaton finished his last radiation treatment
on Tuesday!! I am absolutely astounded
by God’s faithful care of Keaton during those treatments. If you’ve been following this blog, you know
that Keaton not only “endured” the treatments… he dominated them! He kept up his schoolwork, and kept pile-driving
defensive linemen into the turf as Flowery Branch kept on winning football
games. Keaton did not just “dress out”
with the team, he played and contributed key blocks that resulted in
touchdowns. Only God could make that
happen after 30 radiation treatments, along with chemo!! When those “OBVIOUS” God-moments happen in my
life, the old hymns I learned as a child in the little country church on the
county-maintained road, come flooding back to my mind. (But only the 1st, 2nd,
and 4th stanzas – we never sang the 3rd.) “To God Be The Glory” is the tune I keep
singing when I think of Keaton’s progress thus far though treatment for Brain
Cancer.
So what’s next for Keaton? We wait.
For medical reasons that are too lofty for my simple mind, it takes
about 5 weeks AFTER the last radiation treatment to get an accurate MRI of the
brain. So sometime in early December,
we’ll find out what’s going on with the remaining brain tumor. Obviously, the prayer is that the tumor will
have suffered the same fate as opposing defensive linemen! Please join me in that prayer. Never doubt that your prayers make a
difference!
The
second significant event of my week happened
today. I attended the funeral of one of
my two “old lady mentors”, (as I have always affectionately called
them.) These women stepped in to love me and
disciple me during a time in my life when my religion didn’t seem to
match my
reality. They met me for coffee every
Wednesday for almost a year, and poured their wisdom into my life. I
love them both so much. But today, “Miss Wanda” and I said goodbye to
“Miss Sandra.”
Sandra died of cancer.
Cancer took my mom when I was just six years-old, and now
cancer has taken one of my “spiritual moms.”
The throat constricts from the grip of FEAR. Cancer is powerful and hateful. The five weeks that we now have to wait for
news of Keaton’s progress in actually DEFEATING cancer, threatens to be a very
long wait.
Five weeks is a long time for the
throat to feel constricted. EXCEPT.
THERE. IS. A.
WEAPON.
Those of you who know me well, know that my favorite
character in scripture (other than Jesus) is a rather obscure king from the
line of Judah, King Jehoshaphat. He’s
listed in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1.
I don’t have room in this post to list all the reasons WHY he’s my
favorite, you’ll just have to take my word for it. King Jehoshaphat understood FEAR, but more
importantly, he understood how to use his WEAPON.
You should know up front that he was a good king. He had a servant’s heart and he did his best
to take care of his people. He even put
an educational system in place to make sure EVERYONE had access to learn about
God – not just the elite priests and Levites.
And right in the middle of being a good king, a nice guy, and a good
father to seven children, – disaster
struck. It didn’t happen because God was
displeased with him. It happened right
smack in the middle of a very obedient time in Jehoshaphat’s life. Three enemy armies banded together in an
attempt to conquer the nation of Judah and specifically the capital city of Jerusalem.
King Jehoshaphat’s first reaction to this bad news was to
bow his head and pray privately to the one true God. He did not order the trumpet blast which
would have signaled the troops to assemble and he did not head to the “Situation
Room”. He prayed. THEN he sent word to all the people in the
surrounding areas to fast and pray. He
wanted to inform his people not only of the crisis, but also solicit their
prayers.
Turns out King Jehoshaphat had a support system similar
to Team Keaton. When the people heard
the news, they not only complied with the request from the king to fast and
pray… they CAME to Jerusalem to be physically near their beloved king. Words cannot express our gratitude as a
family to all of you who wear the gray bracelets. You are treasured.
King Jehoshaphat faced the crowd of loyal subjects who
had gathered – men, women, and children – and he led them in a time of
corporate prayer. Did he feel FEAR? I imagine he did. His prayer is written in scripture in 2
Chronicles 20:5-12… you should read it!
But the last line of his prayer sums it all up beautifully, and it’s one
I have texted repeatedly to my sister-in-law through this family health crisis. “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
upon you.”
Sometimes in life, it feels like an army is coming
against you. Cancer feels like an
army. A failing economy feels like an
army. Divorce feels like an army. The pressure of college life feels like an
army. A five week waiting period for
test results feels like an army.
And sometimes in the face of those “armies” we just flat
out don’t know what to do. King
Jehoshaphat understood that. I love how
the bible is timeless. Something that happened to a real person THOUSANDS of
years ago is still speaking into my circumstances today.
After
King Jehoshaphat finished his prayer with that
famous line, he simply stopped talking.
He did nothing but continue to stand in front of the assembled
masses. Scripture doesn’t tell us how
LONG he stood there in silence, but I’m thinking it was long enough for
some
people to get squirmy. I’m thinking it
may have SEEMED like five weeks. But the
king did not feel the need to fill the silence with platitudes. I think
that was a gift to the people. (The best thing Job’s friends did for
him was
to sit with him in silence for a week.)
“THEN”
– that’s the word scripture uses to break the waiting period. Then a prophet spoke up with a word from
God. God actually answered the simple, honest
prayer of the king. I love that. Here’s a summary of what God said, “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast
army. For the battle is not yours, but
God’s. Tomorrow march down
against them. Take up your positions;
stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you.”
What happens next in the story BLOWS MY STINKIN’
MIND. You know how God said “tomorrow march out against them?” Apparently, the people just bedded down for
the night and went to sleep since it wasn’t “tomorrow” yet. Can you IMAGINE that? Three armies are on the move in your
direction, and by morning they will be camped outside your city wall. THAT is a throat constricting moment, yet the
people rested… AFTER A TIME
OF WORSHIP. Before hitting the hay,
Jehoshaphat held a big ole worship service right there on the lawn of the
temple. Did it mean the people were in
“Pollyanna mode” – completely in denial of the approaching armies? Nope.
They knew all about the armies.
They just had faith in God’s promised deliverance. Worship is a weapon. FAITH and FEAR can’t occupy the same space. When the focus shifted away from the “vast
army” and onto the powerful God – rest replaced anxiety.
The next morning, King Jehoshaphat bet the farm on
God. There’s a time to have a Worship
SERVICE, and then there’s a time to assemble the troops. In the morning, Jehoshaphat obeyed God’s
order to “march down against them.” As he was explaining the battle plan to the
troops, he executed a VERY unconventional strategy. Rather than putting the shield bearers up
front, like all other Commanders would have done, Jehoshaphat decided to put
the choir
up front. That’s right – the guys in the
long robes - armed only with a song. You see, Jehoshaphat
understood that WORSHIP is a way of life… not just a service you attend. As the good guys marched forward into battle,
they were SINGING “Give thanks to the Lord, his love endures forever.”
Did they feel any FEAR?
Probably, afterall it was three against one. But they CHOSE faith.
FAITH and FEAR can’t occupy the same space. They marched forward into circumstances they
could not control, singing praises to God.
Did God respond to that?
A little bit. Scripture says “AS they began to
sing and praise” God showed up BIG TIME. He basically threw the three opposing armies
into confusion and they turned on each other and destroyed themselves. “When the men of
Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast
army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped.”
So am I
REALLY saying that I HONESTLY believe that all I
have to do is sing a little song every time I get scared of something,
and my
circumstances will change? No. I’m not saying that at all. If that
was the case, Sandra would still be here. But I AM saying that singing
praises to God
helps renew my belief in God’s power to sustain me through WHATEVER may
come. And THAT pushes my FEAR right out
the door. It isn’t a trick… it’s a
weapon against fear. Fear keeps you from
really living.
So, how we spend the next five weeks is a choice. I think King Jehoshaphat makes a pretty
compelling case to choose FAITH. That
song he directed the choir to sing?
Chris Tomlin is still singing it.
It’s called FOREVER. Put it on
your playlist, and when you feel the grip of fear on your throat… use your
throat to belt out the same song that the choir sang as they led Jehoshaphat’s
troops into battle. Let’s pray that God
will do to the cancer cells in Keaton’s body exactly what He did to the three
opposing armies… “no one had escaped.” Worship
is a weapon.
And Sandra… Wanda and I are really going to miss having
coffee with you. But we’re going to choose
worship as a response to the fear of loneliness. Why?
Worship is a weapon.
