If u haven't already, please also check out the first part of this blog…
This past Sunday at church, we broke up into small groups to briefly discuss some of the things we've realized are idols in our lives. The idea of wanting control came out of almost everyone's mouth in my group. One of the main things in my life that I've been realizing more and more can sometimes be a problem is just the desire to do this, go there, or stay busy with that. Regardless of what the "this, there, and that" actually consists of doesn't usually matter though. It's just the struggle of being busy vs. not doing anything, not going anywhere, and feeling stuck that's hard for me. By nature, most of my life, I've always been "on the go" and involved in all sorts of activities and adventures that often make me happy. I've had plenty of good and plenty of difficult experiences, particularly in the last few years, but all of which have contributed to who I am and what I believe. For some reason, I often feel as tho things are my responsibility to take care of, my situations to deal with, my problems to fix, and my confusion to make sense of. I hate when others try to control my life or feel as tho my issues are somehow their problems to fix. I hate feeling like a burden (regardless of if I am at times or not) and I hate having others do for me what I can easily do for myself. I figure they have they're own stuff to deal with and shouldn't waste their time worrying about me if I can take care of things myself. Pretty much, if I need help than I'll ask and if I need to vent than I usually will. I've said more times than I can count over the last several years that I'm pretty much too independent for my own good sometimes, and as weird as that might sound, I honestly believe that to be true. In fact, since the prospect of participating in the World Race came into my life, I've realized those things more than ever before. I feel like SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED in just the last few months and training camp is still a little over a month away. My World Race journey along with both inner and outer changes began to take place before I even applied and have cont. nearly everyday since.
One of the things Pastor Kevin said a couple weeks ago in a discussion about idols prob. struck right to the core of a lot of people, particularly those who are close to their families. As I mentioned in my last blog, when discussing idols we mean "anyone or anything that takes our focus away from or becomes more important than God." We're always living for something… if we're not living for God, than we're living for any number of things that we've let become idols in our lives. Oftentimes, people think of shrines to Buddha or large stacks of bills as idols. They don't usually realize that we can make other people into idols as well. Regardless of whether it's some rockstar on tv, friends' opinions, parents' approval, kids' happiness, a significant other, or working 24/7 to provide stability and buy lots of stuff… anything that takes up all of our time, energy, thoughts, and actions (regardless of it's initially a good or bad thing) can eventually become an idol in our lives. If we put others or ourselves up on some high platform that nobody else can reach, we're basically idolizing them. We often put both ourselves and others on this perfect little platform that no one can really reach, so we often feel let down when the people and situations in our lives don't measure up to that unreachable standard we have in our heads. If we think that a particular person, job, house, event, etc. is necessary to our survival / long-term happiness, what happens when that person, thing, or event is no longer there. I said earlier that my pastor said something that probably struck a chord w/ a lot of people, and this is basically what he said: "if u make someone else into an idol, for example ur husband/wife/kids, and u live to make them happy, what happens if they leave? If they die and ur entire life was wrapped up in pleasing them or being with them, than that means that once casket closes ur life is over." Whereas, if u put God and God alone as the center of ur life, He's not only more perfect than any platform we create but also even overcame death already! There's NOTHING that our God can't do! Nothing will ever stop Him or His love for us! Even when we feel like we can't go on, move on, or be happy due to situations that arise in our lives, our God is a faithful and just God! Just like the poem "Footprints" states: Jesus will carry us through the difficult times in which we feel unable to walk… all we have to do is believe that He's the Son of God, lived the perfect life, died a horrible death with the sins of the world on his shoulders, rose to Heaven 3 days later, and came to save us from ourselves! Let go and let God take control…
