Dealing with Idols

Idols were always something I brushed off, saying oh yeah I have my idols under control. It’s no big deal.

I didn’t realize that by sweeping them under the rug, so to speak, they would get to be such a monster size. Or perhaps they always were, but God was just now showing me how big of a deal they were.

As I am learning, when God puts us in a time of waiting we often don’t keep focused on him and his path, but rather take roads off this path. These distractions we focus on and keep ourselves preoccupied with during this time of waiting are so incredibly deceiving. These things seem small, like a cute new guy, or pouring yourself into a project. They aren’t easily noticed because they are fine when balanced with spending time with God and serving him.

I like to illustrate it like you are walking on the path God paved for you, filled with adventure planned just for you. But, when you take that road off his path, you are still within sight of His path. You can still see Jesus. You don’t always realize you’ve tried to take a detour. And then you go deeper and deeper on that path and Jesus seems farther and farther away. You become wrapped up in your idols without even realizing.

That is where I found myself a couple weeks ago. 

God showed me all the idols I had put before him. All of the innocent to the ugly things I had chosen over focusing on God while waiting. I realized how these things had taken over my life. One instance had even become somewhat of an addiction in my life.

Where does one go after realizing they are at that place in their life? You run back to God.

I felt dirty and alone and unworthy. Why would he ever take me back? Maybe I should just keep going how I am. It’s not too bad.

These are lies.

Here’s the truth. My idols were already seen by God. He sees me. He knows me. And yet he loves me. He wants me.

One Bible story that I have found that so perfectly illustrates my struggles is the story of Hosea. In this story, Hosea is instructed by God to marry a prostitute and love her and have children with her. Crazy right? That’s not even how crazy it gets. See, Hosea shows her love. They also have children together. And yet she leaves to go back to her old ways. She choses her old unlovable ways over his love. She chooses this. And you know what God tells Hosea to do? Go after her. Buy her back. He says to “love her as the Lord loves the Israelites” (Hosea 3:1). The kind of unconditional love He shows us.

This story illustrates how God shows his love to us. He loves us so much that even when we turn away from his unrelenting all-consuming love to cheap unfulfilling versions, he comes after us. He pursues us still.

Here is what He says about what He’s going to do when we have left and chased after our idols. “Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.” (Hosea 2:14) He also says, “I will remove the names of Baals from her lips; no longer with their names be invoked.” (Hosea 2:17) The mention of “Baals” is reference to Israel’s idols. God can and will take control of your idols. He is pursuing you. He wants you back. He wants to strip you of your idols. He wants you.

Practically, what you can do is pray. Spend time with him. Come back to him. Ask him to show you all of the ways you have strayed off of his path. Confess those to him. I like journaling so I can write out everything I’m thinking. I find that through this, I can look back and connect the dots of what I have been struggling with. In the end, God is the only one who can fix you, and he is faithful to do so.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them below or contact me through the methods on my contact page. I’ll try my best to answer any questions you have. :)

Thanks lovelies,

Kirsten