Psalm 34:4 I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.**
Fear allures me. It dresses itself like a safety blanket and seeks permanent residence in my heart that has been otherwise claimed.
Normal in this world, it opposes all that is You. Little fears, big fears, everyday fears are like slivers in my purity — mis-aligning my perspective, but, at times undetectable to my eye.
Until I sit before You, today, and call You deliverer, and walls come down.
The captive is not another I am seeking to save — not my neighbor, not my lost friend — the captive is me. I live fear and You call me up to You, Deliverer. And when I praise You for being You, the One who has come to deliver, I realize I have been captive.
I praise You, bearer of my freedom. I praise You, oh One who seeks redemption of every secret thought. I praise You, Father relentlessly pursuing Your daughter’s dance.
And when I praise You, I taste freedom. When I adore You as the One who has come to un-hinge every single one of my fears — to deliver me — hunger wells up within me.
I can’t have that sickness, and You. I can’t worship You as deliverer and sleep with fear.
So I adore. I worship. I stare into the face of the One who promises release from that which is binding my ankles, and freedom falls like rain on my face, washing over what I never realized was dirty.
When I stare at the Deliverer, fear loses its grip. When I worship the Beauty that is freedom — all found in one Man — fear falls silly on the floor.
So small, compared to Your big.
Your deliverance envelopes me, it overwhelms me, it leaves no room for anything other than beauty.
And when I look at You, I’m radiant.
**So what do I do with these posts, you ask, other than just read them? First, if you haven’t yet, read: Why I Adore to give you a context for this little space on my blog. (This post also gives context.)
If you are compelled, I invite you to participate. Set up a space and time in your own life to begin adoring. Over laundry or dinner dishes, on your commute to work, or in the wee morning hours — ten minutes is a great start. You can use the verse I list here every day or two as a launch pad for your own adoration.
Then practice praise.
Add to my adoration here, by posting a comment with your own words back to God about God …or hide it in your heart.
I promise your weary soul won’t regret it.
***You can easily subscribe to these devotional meditations as they are delivered, by using this feed: http://www.EveryBitterThingisSweet.com/posts/chai/feed or by entering your email address in the second box on the right-hand side… (scroll up a bit)
Additionally, all of the Morning Chai Posts can be seen, in the order of posting, by clicking here or adding this address to your reader: EveryBitterThingisSweet.com/posts/chai
