Idols Reveal True Weakness

I really love trident gum. I chew it every day. You could call it an addiction, a nervous habit, something to settle the stomach, something to get rid of bad breath, or even dependence.  For three years now trident original gum has been my favorite, something I can’t seem to go on without. As much as I love it, gum is not essential to life. I won’t die if I stop chewing this gum. Rather, I will just find something else to replace it with. Two questions come to mind now: 1. What would I replace gum with? 2. Why have I been rambling about gum for the past 5 minutes? To answer both questions, gum is not the point that I’m getting at. This goes much deeper than an addiction to chewing gum.

Beautiful clouds from a wonderful maker

As humans we all have this innate desire and passion to worship something. Whether it is gum, music, relationships, sports, careers, our plans, social networking, celebrities, food, or even ourselves, we were created for worship. So we all worship something, its natural. It’s easy to get caught up in anything in this world, even to the point where we become reliant on it. So here’s a scary question, what happens when everything that we’ve been worshipping for our entire lives is taken away from us? Or when those things we have always been so passionate about fade and become meaningless to us? We have to find something better, something more superior to fulfill our need to worship.

I struggled with this for years when I was in high school and I still deal with it every once in a while even now. I always made friends my idols. Since I am an only child and I used to be shy I always wanted to have friends. It was something that I could find comfort it. Unfortunately, friends don’t always last a lifetime. To this day, the longest friendship I have had has lasted 7 years. In the beginning of high school I struggled to make long lasting friends. People would say they wanted to be my friend but when it really came down to the heart of the matter, they were fly-by-night friends. One day we would be attached at the hip and the next I would never hear from them. After a series of let downs and failed friendships I began to turn to extracurricular activities to fill my need for worship. Long story short, that failed me too. At the end of my sophomore year of high school I felt lost with no direction. All of these worldly passions and desires had failed me. I didn’t know where to turn, so I turned back to God.

Hanging out with my new friend Sarah

Ever since my heart changed and I began truly following Christ, I have always had a reason to worship, a reason to live, even a reason give up senseless earthly passions. The reason why I bring up my past is to point out the idols in my life. It is true that senseless worldly things have a way of easily ruling our beings, but what if we gave them up? What if for once, we slowed down, stopped thinking about ourselves and humbled ourselves before God?

“Worship is why we are born and why we are born again." -AW Tozer

When we actually stop and take a look at our lives without distracting idols, we realize that we are weak. Often times our pride gets in the way and we don’t like to look at ourselves as weak. Everyone wants to be strong, we all want to prove to everyone that we can rise up above all the madness and sin in this crazy mixed up world. But the truth is, none of us can do it. No matter how hard we try, no matter how much of a front we put up, none of us can truly live alone in this world.

I have found that when we give up something that we are truly dependent on, it is easy to humble ourselves before God. On Wednesday, I fasted from food to spend time refocusing my heart on God and his will. I had once again fallen into a pattern of self-reliance and I desperately needed to get back to relying completely on him. The reason I bring up fasting, is because it made me think about how weak and dependent we are as humans. When I gave up food for a day it made me even weaker yet, it made me even more dependent on Christ.  Even though it was only a day, it reminded me of how weak and powerless I am and of how mighty and strong God is.

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

 – 2 Corinthians 12:9

The Denton Square

As we surrender more and more of our hearts and lives to Christ we become obedient to his will, knowing that no matter how much we fail or how weak we are, his grace is sufficient for us. As we strip away our idols from our lives and take a true look at our hearts we realize our constant need for a savior. People have said Christianity is a crutch for the weak, but they’re wrong. Christianity is a stretcher for the dead. The moment we came into this world we were condemned for death. As we walk senselessly through each day we are dead. It isn’t until we die to ourselves that we can truly live. Until we realize that this life isn’t about us we are missing the point. Once we finally realize that life is not all about us, it becomes easier to humble ourselves before God. We can stop worrying about our image that we create in ourselves and let God have control of our lives. It is the most freeing feeling in the world to know that you are not bound to conform to the standards of society. I came to this realization at the end of this summer.

“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” – Galatians 1:10

After spending a day of fasting and prayer, I have been reminded of how easily idols can take our eyes off of Christ and because of my weakness and I have constant need for Christ and dependence on the Holy Spirit. And no matter what happens, no matter what position I am in, I always try my best to do everything I do to the glory of God.  My focus remains on him as the hymn goes:

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best thought by day or by night
Waking or sleeping Thy presence my light

Be thou my wisdom and Thou my true word
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord
Thou my great Father, I , Thy true son
Thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one...