War and Worship
They say no news is good news. That would also mean that good news equates to a lot of people in the media industry not having jobs! So, when you turn on the news or open your newspaper, we predominantly see the bad news. Truth is, most news IS bad news, because it’s just the nature of the world we live in. And if we’re honest, we are often more interested in learning the bad news than we are the good. There’s just something about it that draws us in.
Unfortunately, the bad news also feeds our frustrations and fears. It becomes a cycle. It’s no wonder so many of us are filled with anxiety and depression!
The latest news of wars and rumors of wars has caused me to go to bed each night, praying for our leaders to make wise decisions and for some kind of peace to come. For the innocent to be protected. For unnecessary death to end.
Wars are nothing new. They’ve existed throughout human history. Following mankind’s exile from the Garden of Eden, we’ve all lost what was meant to be our protective home, where we could have walked and talked with God in uninhibited fellowship as we lived out our lives with clear purpose and fulfillment.
Self-love and rebellion got in the way. The desire to be our own gods has always been our downfall. War makes that truth abundantly evident. Now, we turn on the news and even those who should be on the same “side” are disagreeing as they try to make their arguments for what constitutes right and wrong - in their own minds of course.
I think those of us who do not live in war zones…at least not yet…have an important responsibility in these moments. A responsibility to look from the outside in. Rather than trying so hard to jump into the fire and its destructive force, we can re-enter the “garden” — prayer, communion with God, where our minds and hearts can be renewed and from where we can see more clearly the spiritual forces at play, rather than just the physical manifestations.
What a blessing and opportunity each morning when you awake, to know that wars are happening all around you, but that you can enter a beautiful garden of worship in which the Spirit of God - through the gift of Jesus Christ - can fill you with peace, hope, and a proper perspective.
It is true that sometimes, entering that place of worship requires us to enter a different kind of war. A war that attempts to keep us too busy (aka too full of fear and tasks and other forms of self-love) to enter into the very thing that God created us to do from the beginning. We were made to worship. We were made to rule on the earth for God, not for ourselves. He placed His image in us so that when we went out into the world we would expand HIS kingdom, not ours, and that the whole earth would be filled with HIS glory.
In moments of worship, where we reorient our spirits to that mission, we can find peace even in the midst of war. Worship becomes our primary weapon. And when peace finally does come to the earth, when Jesus comes again to rule and reign, worship will continue. Let’s start practicing today and get that glimpse of the beauty of the perfect rest, beauty, and abundance that God will once again bring to the people who call upon His Name.