75 degrees, sweat on the brow, sun beating down and a field that needs to be weed-wacked and plowed by hand. Add in children running all over the house and yard, tugging on your hand to come help with English class or play cards…and that’s been my life this past week in Honduras. It’s been incredible, challenging and rewarding all rolled into one.
We’ve made great strides with construction and yard work on the property. Our relationships with the kids has gotten closer and stronger…and personally my walk with the Lord has grown. But I didn’t want to just blog about the nuts and bolts of what’s going on in Honduras. I wanted to give an insight into something God has been working in my heart lately.
I grew up in the church reading about ‘idols’ people in the old testament made to worship. Gold statues they bowed down to and gave praise. I remember thinking in my head ‘How could people be so foolish?’. It seemed absurd to me that people would worship these idols in defiance of what the Lord had blessed them with.
The truth is, in the last couple months I’ve come to realize some of the different idols I’ve developed in my life. I’d always let my image of idols as gold statues blind me to the things in my life that were between me and my relationship with God.
In my opinion an idol is anything that you have elevated above the Lord, stunting your relationship and worshiping of him.
To be clear, the idols I’m about to list are NOT bad things to have in your life. They should just be kept in check and enjoyed in their rightful place….below the Lord of all creation.
Money – This has always been a struggle for me. I have a desire for wealth, to not ever have to worry about if I can afford a summer vacation or a car. Does my IRA have enough money in it? Am I saving enough money each month? I want my heart to desire wealth to freely give it away and bless those in need, not for selfish gain. When wealth and finances come before the Lord and his plan for you…it’s time to reevaluate.
Sports – I have loved sports my whole life, and they bring me so much joy. I have used sports as a way to minister to children all over the world, and bring together communities. But when I can devote 5 hours to watching sports in an afternoon and can’t find 10 minutes to spend time reading my bible…it’s time to reevaluate.
Status – There are not enough words to dive into this one, perhaps an entire blog post will be devoted to this one in the future. I’ve always had a little part of me that longed for confirmation and praise from others. Sometimes I put this above pleasing the Lord and finding satisfaction in pleasing him.
So what exactly is an idol? Maybe if you’re reading this you have a few in your life that need to be addressed. In order to address mine I had to break free of how I thought Idols looked and affected my life.
As I continue to share the love of Christ down here in Honduras please keep me and my team in your prayers! Please pray for:
– Health
– Safety
– Relationships with the children
– A youth event we are hosting this weekend to share the gospel with 50+ kids.
Thanks for all the support! Miss you guys!
Here are a couple pictures to give yall some visuals. We also had a mission team that stopped by for a day of worship…and they are from Kentucky!! Awesome to run into some folks from the Blue Grass down here.
