Where's your glory - by James Newton

I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that we get anxious because we fear losing the things we value the most. We value our health so we fear getting injured or sick. We value our jobs so we fear a redundancy, company downturn or worse – getting fired. We value money so we fear not having the capacity to earn it. We value our time so we fear wasting it. We value being popular or accepted so we fear being left out and sometimes make compromises to avoid this. We value having friends and family so we fear being lonely and unloved. There is a certain glory in these things and so many other things that we value and pursue. They are worthy causes. But what happens if they fall away? What if these things that were giving us a sense of purpose and meaning are no longer there? What if the thing that makes you feel right with the world is unavailable? What if the fire you are warming yourself by goes cold?

 In Psalm 3 in the second half of verse 3, David states where he finds his glory. And it’s the second step out of anxious fear. The New Living Translation puts it this way: “But you, O Lord, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high.” David knew that it didn’t matter what was happening to him or what people thought of him because he found his glory in the Lord. The Lord was the thing David valued and pursued the most. The Lord was the one who made him right with the world. The Lord was David’s righteousness.

 The second step out of anxious fear is to relocate your glory from finite things that fade and instead get your glory from God. If, for example your glory is your job – your job is what defines you as a person; what makes you want to get up in the morning; what makes you feel right with the world – and you lose your job, that will be a disaster that will send you spiralling downwards in fear and anxiety. But if your glory is the Lord – if He defines you as a person; He is the reason you face the morning; He is what makes you feel right with the world – then if you lose that same job, sure it’s bad – even disastrous – but you can stand strong in the Lord’s strength through it. For He is your Glory, the one who holds your head high. His fire can never be extinguished.

 So what defines you? Where is your identity? What fire are you warming yourself by? Where is your glory? Whatever things you value and pursue, value and pursue the Lord more and more. Make Him your glory. Your righteousness.