I am doing a Bible study about idols right now. As someone who has been brought up in church…the idea of idols and their place in relationship to God is not a foreign concept, so it has been refreshing to be presented with some new perspectives though this study. For a "seasoned" believer, idols so many times aren't the "big" ones. Satan is smarter than that. He uses the subtle things that creep in…things that are inherently good, but, in the wrong context, can become bad.
One idea from the study that recently hit home is how often relationships become “bad” when we use them to fulfill desires. Not that relationships aren't supposed to fulfill desires – I think that God means for them to. However, when we rely on them for fulfillment, rather than the One who provided them, things can get sticky.
I have a history of removing obstacles from my life when I can. When I was in college, I overdrew on my bank account because I was using this new-fangled card that allowed me to instantly get cash out of a machine – how great is that? What I didn’t think to do was write it in my checkbook. (But…it wasn’t a check, so why should I think to do that, right??) I did finally realize the error of my ways, after an overdraft or two and a heart-to-heart with my father. However, instead of vowing to responsibly log withdrawals in the future, my solution was just not to use the ATM card anymore. Made sense to me – and it worked! No more overdrafts for Heather. Well, that doesn’t always work in real life. Avoiding all obstacles leads to a very sheltered and shallow life with very little growth. Life is messy…and avoiding the mess isn’t living.
Today I was at a bit of a loss at the end of my Bible study assignment for the day. I get that we struggle with having our needs met through relationships. I get our propensity for relationships to become idols. I get how that can be destructive and why it is not a place that I want (or God wants me) to live. But I love people. I can’t sequester myself from them, nor would I ever want to…so what do I do? This was my prayer this morning. How do I keep from allowing “good” things to become “bad”? And how do I mitigate the possibility that they become “bad” – without avoiding, well, life.
Suddenly I had a new perspective on 2 Corinthians 12:9:
“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 weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
It isn’t that I should remove the obstacles that I struggle with in relationships (or anything for that matter)…and it isn’t that I should ask God to remove them (though I’d be ok with that, too!!). It’s that I need to live in the weakness – the messiness – with God. He will strengthen me…not only that – but He delights in doing so. That is when His power is made perfect. And it is by living with those weaknesses, rather than avoiding or moving past them, that keeps me plugged in to Him.
By the way – I did end up getting the hang of the ATM card eventually (online banking helps). So even though I’m not so keen on boasting in my weaknesses just yet, maybe I’ll get the hang of that, too. Or at least maybe I’ll learn to rejoice in His strength during the process.
