One Factory Still Hard at Work: The Idol Factory

One good thing about the global pandemic is that we are forced to face the reality of what we count on for our sense of well-being.  And it has revealed how fickle all these things that we have counted on truly are. 

Here is what I mean. 

Take a hard working husband/father who deals with a lot of stress with their job.  Bosses, deadlines, obnoxious co-workers.  And then he gets home and there are needs he feels pressure to provide for, emotionally, financially, relationally, etc. 

Under normal circumstances he is pretty frazzled and just a few small pushes away from snapping at those around him.  One bad external event from entering a spiral of depression and anxiety. 

Until recently he counted on his weekly basketball games at the Y and an evening at the bar with his friends to open up the pressure valve a bit and decompress the building up stress.  They were so important to him, that any disruption of that pattern would always be directly tied to problems at home and work.  They were what he was counting on for balance and peace. 

But these were all just "things" without any real permanence.  Circumstances could always temporarily eliminate them from his calendar, and now they were completely taken away.  Look at your local police docket.  You shouldn't be surprised to see the growth of reported domestic violence over the last few months. 

Playing basketball at the Y, going out with friends, whatever it is you do to blow off steam, are not inherrently bad things.  But this pandemic does pull back the curtain and reveal our heart.  If something is "taken" from you and it causes your to become angry, bitter, engative, to have your personality deeply impacted, it reveals that you were not internally healthy or whole, but had become reliant on a crutch that had become your source of well-being and hope.

To put it more Biblically, what we are talking about is idolatry. 

They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.- Romans 1:25

Everything in this world, even good things, like, family, friends, food, etc, are finite and imperfect.  When they become the essence of what keeps us content and at peace, they are an idol.  And idol that will only take from you and never give back the hope and peace you are truly in need of. 

John Calvin said this about our condition, "the human heart is a perpetual idol factory"  And I once heard that expanded to the concept by saying, "The human heart is a perpetual idol factory AND IT NEVER IDLES IN CREATING IDOLS"

Why are we perpetually making idols for ourselves.  Because we are desperate for hope.  And time after time we place our hope in things that can never truly satisfy.  But instead of saying, maybe I need to dig deeper, we just throw away with contempt that which we had hoped in and try to fill that void with a new fancy thing that surely won't let us down in the same way.

We throw away relationships, jobs, friendships, homes, gifts, etc in a constant turnover in a desperate attempt to finally find the thing that sticks.  And sometimes we do find something that lasts for a long time.  But we can never forget that in a moment, it is something that can be taken.  Even if we think we finally have found that "thing" that will make us feel peace and contentment, a snap of a finger it can be ripped from us. 

Paul points out to us in Romans the simple truth of our condition.  There is one thing that is eternal, perfect, complete and a source of lasting hope and peace.  God, the creator of the good things that bless us.  But we too often celebrate the gift and not the maker and giver of the gift.

If your child makes you a handmade card for mothers day this coming weekend.  Which do you prefer, the card, or your child?

Of course you prefer your child!

But everyday we say God my happiness is not in you, but only in this object, this person, this thing.  And if I don't have it, I will throw a fit.  Because it is the only thing holding it all together for me.

Until we can say like the author of Lamentations,

I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."- Lamentations 3:24

Then we will never find perfect peace.  As long as we say God, I will be happy as long as you protect this, give me that, change these circumstances....as long as there is anything we count on to do for us what God made us to only perfectly experience through Him, then we have set ourselves up for pain and heartache.

And if we go to our graves with our hope in anything else, the idol you have put your hopes in will not save you.  It is a thing, it is not God. 

Only God saves, gives hope, grants peace, shows purpose.  And this He does for eternity. 

Are We There Yet? Or, the Pain of Waiting on God

Moses probably had it pretty rough

Do you know why dad's get mad driving their family to vacation?  Because hearing, "Are We there yet??" every 2 1/2  miles is enough to break the most hardened Navy Seal.  If you ever wanted to interrogate a terrorist to find where the dirty bomb was placed, don't waterboard, just have them drive my kids somewhere more than an hour away.  I give them 30 minutes before they help us permanently shut down ISIS. 

It is a part of our fallen nature that we struggle with the patience that a journey requires of us.  A significant part of that struggle is that;

1- We are so excited we want it RIGHT NOW, and, sometimes,

2- We are afraid that we will never get there to experience what we are hoping for. 

My kids sometimes are worried that if it takes too long the resort will be closed, the beach will be shut down, the vacation home will be unavailable. 

These two emotions, impatience and anxiety, are at war within us even as we try to joyfully anticipate where the journey is taking us.  And here is where it gets dicy for us.  Sometimes we can become so impatient and anxious in our behavior that we rob all joy from the journey and make arriving at our destination a less than joyful moment. 

Have you ever been so exhausted of your trip, and the constant heckling of some backseat drivers, that you feel you are going to need a few days to just recover from the journey before you can even enjoy where you have arrived??

This is an ongoing battle within our own hearts as we "try" to wait on God.  We can grasp the concept that there is a reason for the wait.  But we become frustrated and even fearful that what we are waiting for will never materialize.  We cry out, "But why not yet God??!!?"  And every time we give into that emotion and let it dominate us we are creating the environment that, instead of giving us peace and joy, gives us increasing anxiety and unhappiness. 

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.- 2 Peter 3:9

Why is God seemingly slow to fulfill those hopes, dreams and promises in our lives? 

Because he is PATIENT WITH YOU!!

There is something that YOU NEED.  That cannot be appropriately accomplished by rushing to the end of the journey.  God isn't asking you to please be patient with His apparent slowness.  He is gracefully extending the journey to give you what you need the most. 

What is actually at the heart of all your pleas and felt needs is this:  To be saved and to know God as Father, Savior and King.  And when that primary goal has been accomplished then He keeps the journey going so that you dive deeper and deeper into what it means to know and be known by the God who made you and bought you with the blood of His own Son.

The waiting can be painful, but God has never failed us yet. 

God is ever true to His promises- I Corinthians 1:9

If the journey from Ohio to the beach was only 30 minutes what would we find.  No sunshine and no beach.  To have that warm beach vacation in deep and dark February requires many long(and painful sometimes) hours.  But it is worth it.

As we wait on God, instead of asking are we there yet, be grateful that God loves you enough to keep your journey going for your own sake.  Because His destination is the only destination that is worth our patience. 

Why We Suffer

Are you human?  If the answer is no, how in the world are you reading this?  If you answer yes, then the reality of life is that at some point you are going to hurt, suffer, weep.  And you may be doing so currently.  But why do we suffer?

Sometimes the answer we lean on is that the world is simply cruel and indifferent.  But if we believe in God, we struggle with the whole concept of suffering.  Why me?  Why this?  Why now?  Why God, why??!!

For a broader picture on suffering it is helpful to study the history of God's chosen people, the Jews.  Outside of some brief moments of peace and prosperity they have had a whole lot of suffering.  At the end of the monarchial period the entire nation of Israel is destroyed, uprooted, and marched off into captivity.  After a number of generations pass, they are finally given the freedom to return home and rebuild, but only as a Vassal state.

The book of Malachi, the last book before the New Testament, challenges me to have a whole new view on the root of my suffering and despair.  It starts off with this accusatory tone, "Don't you really love us God?!?!"  They are just completely indignant.  Why have all these bad things happened to us?  Why are we so sad and in so much pain?  Our suffering is a clear indication that you aren't keeping up your end of the bargain!! 

God responds quite simply.  He says, I love you, don't doubt it!  But before you get all self-righteous about things, lets talk about what YOU have been up to. 

Being a parent is a frustrating job in a lot of ways.  Especially when your perfect little angel begins to accuse you of being a "bully" and a "stupid unfair baby".  Which I have been hearing a lot lately.  Why do I hear these things?  Have I been a bully and an unfair stupid baby?  No, no I have not. 

My 4 year old son does not like getting in trouble.  He absolutely detests it.  Even when he admits to his bad behavior.  Like any loving older brother, he shows his love to his 2 year old sister by; Not sharing, pushing, hitting, yelling at, etc.  All of which are unacceptable behaviors.  There is this very odd logic he employs in his self-righteousness.  His sister picked up a toy that he was not using....but happened to be "his"....and he went and took it away from her.  I proceeded to request he give it back, or get in trouble.  His response?  "You are a bully, you are being unfair!!!!"  When this continued, he was sent to his room without any toys.  Which led to more accusations of my unfair meanness. 

He accepts that what he is doing is not appropriate, but then he disconnects from his behavior when he addresses my actions(his consequences).  It is as if they are two completely unrelated events.  He wants to behave however he wants to behave, and he wants me to behave however HE wants me to behave.  And when I don't, I am the bad guy.

This is the story of Israel that God gently lays out in the book of Malachi.  Of course I love you.  But look at your obscene behavior.  Over and over again you sin and break the covenant.  But in the very middle of all of this the most important point of all is made.

Malachi 2:4
⁴ And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi may continue,” says the Lord Almighty.

At the heart of God's love and Israel's consequences is this essential truth.  Consequences exist to fix the relationship!  Why have you suffered Israel, why has God allowed it and will continue to allow it?  Because His ultimate heart is to restore the intimacy between Himself and His people. 

Why do I punish my son and give him consequences?  BECAUSE I love him.  If he grows up to be a disobedient, sister hitting, rule breaking, bad attitude adult, he and I will have, at best, a strained relationship.  My love for him is the driving force for my willingness to give him a bit of suffering.  A taste of suffering(time outs, lost privileges, a spanking or two(or 100)) now is how we eliminate greater suffering later. 

So why do you suffer?

I can't speak to every nuance of every situation that you deal with, but lets walk through a basic perspective.

God loves you.  Everything that can and does happen in your life is driven by the fact that He loves you, and that His greatest desire is not for your temporary "comfort" level, but the restoration and building of intimacy between you and Him.  If we don't start here, nothing else that follows will make sense.

The primary sources of suffering in our life are generally self-caused.  Specifically, we sin.  Not only does sin carry with it natural consequences(driving drunk could kill you and others, or, get you put in jail), but it also has spiritual consequences.  The sense of peace and blessing we experience in the context of a healthy relationship with God can, and often will be, removed. 

To make sense of "spiritual" consequences lets compare it to marriage.  If you say something mean to your spouse, they probably aren't going to leave you, but if you have ever felt the cold sting of rejection and anger you know what I am talking about.  It is an uneasy place to be when you know your spouse is frustrated with you.  That is a simple way of thinking about spiritual consequences.

God loves us so much that He will let us flounder around in these consequences of our behavior.  Not because He just loves punishing us.  But because He loves US! 

If you are suffering and hurting, you have to be honest with yourself.  Are there sins and issues in your life that you aren't dealing with?  Even if you think they are private and secret.  God loves you so much that He will let you hurt until you accept that it is time to heal.

God loves you so much, His heart is not for you to suffer.  But He loves you enough to LET you suffer so that you can come to the one place where suffering can cease.