Those who make idols will become like them.
Psalm 115:8
I’ve been on a soul-searching mission in recent years. I’ve entered my “retirement” years having raised and home-educated 10 kids — so I’m feeling the lull in my life purpose.
In that lull, I’ve discovered something pretty important. And it’s nothing new under the sun.
We create idols.
In the nugget-filled book, *Aging With Grace by Betters & Hunt, the verse above popped off the page and I had to write about it.
You see, I’ve been creating idols all my life. I bet you have, too.
The thing is, we’re usually unaware we’re doing it. Most often, we don’t take time to consider what and why and how we’re going about creating our adult life. We focus on creating our home and family. Building our career. Finding our friends. Keeping track of online friends and followers.
Each of these can be a good thing, one that guides us to God’s purpose for our life. But it just might be an idol. A false god we create to help us feel safe — and loved — and important. Do you feel the stab of discomfort when you read those words? Don’t ignore it! That stab can prod you to discover your own idols.
God wants our hearts to be His. Not anyone or anything else’s.
Simply His.
“Where we look determines what we worship,
and what we worship determines what we become.”
AGING WITH GRACE – BETTERS & HUNT
The Quest Called Life
We begin life on a quest. A quest for fun and adventure, fulfillment and comfort, relationships and happiness. We’re told to grab hold of the impossible — find our life in whatever we can create from our talents and initiative.
Of course, none of those is inherently wrong. But without God at the core of any of these endeavors, we’ll miss the mark. We’ll bypass the true Source of each of those quests.
The adventure will get stale — the fulfillment will wane — the relationships will disappoint.
But why?
- Because God desires us to worship only Him.
- To listen to His words and obey them.
- To become exactly what He created us to be.
- To come to Him, not just when we’re tired of the culture telling us what’s important, but before we listen to all the voices.
I’ve spent two-thirds of my life raising my family. And I’ve loved most of it. I’m not one of those women who disdained the duties of diapers and training and caring for little people. I actually found it to be an adventure and a challenge!
But all too often, I wanted things just the way I wanted them. I got angry when things didn’t go my way. I forced things into my schedule even when I was burning the candle at both ends. I’m sure my kids felt the pressure. (But then, they also had a lot of fun and adventure with me. You see, there’s good and bad in every story!)
It’s easy to get frustrated by a life spent raising a family — growing a business — searching for the perfect relationship when we don’t understand the depth and value of the life God calls us to.
- We don’t realize the importance and impact to each person in our family and for our own life.
- We don’t see God’s plan through our endeavors.
- We don’t see the value of each and every event, each and every frustration, each and every moment spent living for others.
But God will remind us that He is a patient and loving and kindhearted Father. He knows our frame. He allows time to pass while we learn just how trustworthy He is — and how false the world’s promises are. That’s what grey hair is for!
We can and should praise Him for that!
Motives & Desires
If one point here resonates with you, won’t you take a moment to consider your ways, your motives, your heart’s desires and lay them before the Lord? Let Him bring to mind just what it is you are making an idol.
Then move into the difficult work of casting your cares upon the Father, allowing Him to determine just what it is you’re to keep — and what things you need to let go of.
Yes, it will hurt. But the freedom that comes afterward is amazingly sweet. Your eyes will be opened and you won’t ever want to go back — to the bondage of thinking those things, the opinions of others, your security, or your fame matter.
You will be free to be you!
Just the way God designed you. Worshipping the God who made you for His good work. Living in the calm and strength that can only come from Him.
Nothing, yes, nothing we do can compete with what God has in store.
A Promise
I promise you, as you take time for this, as you pray and release the years or decades worth of deception that have crept into your heart — the idols you’ve been holding onto for comfort and happiness — God will enter in and reveal just what it is you are destined to do while you live on this earth.
Depend on your Father and live in freedom.
I’m on a mission to help you find that kind of freedom. The freedom that comes from giving up lies and leaning into God and His plan for you. Learning how you’re wired and created can really help. Finally, you can see how God created you to do what only you can do well, for His glory and the good of others.
Two tools have really helped me:
- The Enneagram — your unique personality understood in light of how you’re designed to worship God and set free through the Gospel.
- Christian Life Coaching — having deep conversations with a person who can help you sort through what’s within you waiting to be understood.
These aren’t “ooh-hoo” or new age mysticism as you might think. They are grounded on God’s unique design — you! When you begin with how you’re a created being and then directed toward your Creator, it feels like magic!
I’m currently training at Professional Christian Coaching Institute and would love to help you discover the freedom I’ve found. Contact me for a free consultation to see if I can help you discover your own idols. More important, find the freedom you can only find in fellowship with God, using the gifts He’s given you!
Contact me if you want to learn more about God, coaching, or idols.
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