Where God's Word Meets Our Mess
Dear Idol, I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately. I'm wondering why I devote so much of my time and energy to you. I mean, you’re not the best thing that’s ever happened to me. In fact, you’ve left me feeling miserable, guilty, and anxious quite often.
I am not saying that God caused the coronavirus. I am saying that God allowed the coronavirus because He let sinful humans with a freewill choose to sin. (I won’t get into the blame game of who caused the coronavirus because that’s a discussion for another time.) As a pastor recently explained to me, the Fall caused a lot of unpleasant consequences for sinful humanity, including illness and death. But I believe God can still use this messy situation for good…if we let Him.
The following is written from God's perspective, not my own. Of course, I'm not trying to put words in His mouth or add to the Bible. These words are just my ideas of what He might tell you if you are...
I know how much you want to destroy your idols, and I know how much you want to keep them. I know how impossible it feels not to worship them. I may set goals, have high ambitions, and desire to change. But I still feel like I’ll always be ruled by my idols. So how do I stop? How do we stop?
I just wish God would make my struggles disappear. I know He could do it if He wanted to because He can do absolutely anything (Luke 1:37). But that doesn’t mean He will. His plan is so much greater than that.
Louis saw God as the source of his suffering in the prison camps and wanted nothing to do with Him. When the PTSD became too difficult to handle, he drank alcohol. But it led him to his downfall. He was only able to see his circumstances clearly when he turned to Christ and trusted Him for salvation. He realized that God did not cause his pain but allowed it so that Louis could come to know Him.
Sometimes, we wander to sinful addictions and habits that ensnare us. Other times, we wander to Satan's lies because they seem more believable than God's Truth. And other times, we wander to self-pity and self-defeat because our situation seems to difficult to handle. But take heart, Wanderer. You don't walk alone.
Courage is more common than we think. Every single day, we are faced with opportunities to be strong and courageous…or to fearfully back down. I often choose to fearfully back down. I could try to complicate the reasons why I do this, or I could admit that I’m simply terrified and unwilling to trust my Savior.
Church…blah, blah, blah.
Bible study…blah, blah, blah.
Prayer…blah, blah, blah.
Worship…blah, blah, blah.
Quiet time…blah, blah, blah.
Do you ever feel like you’re living a blah spiritual life?
I definitely do. I’ve been a Christian since I was a little girl, so I’ve learned how I should act and what I should do as a Christian. But sometimes I feel tired of doing the "right" things.
Tizzie's Tidbits of Truth 