Hidden Idols

Sneak Peak: What happens when we put good things before God?

I have a confession. When I love, I love hard. Sometimes, my desire for love can block my walk with Christ. I truly believe I will be someone’s wife someday. When? I have no clue. Who? Don’t know. God doesn’t give us a tracking number. That’s how it is.

I’ve been dating again. While experiencing the highs and lows that come, God brought something to my attention. When I meet a man, I tend to plan out everything—the marriage, kids—all of it! I start to obsess the little things. He showed me I was putting my time aside with Him and prioritizing relationships more. My desire to get married and have a family isn’t bad. In fact, it is a good thing (for me). However, He did show me, it is consuming my life a bit too much.

Idols in the Bible

How many of us grew up thinking that idols were just figurines or statues? I did. An example in the Bible are the Israelites. After they were free from slavery, they were fed up with not hearing from God (via Moses), so they decided to make a golden calf and worship it.

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods^[ who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”

Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” -Exodus 32:1-4 NIV

I can think of other examples in the Bible, but then this blog would be a dissertation and I know you have things to do. What if I told you that we have hidden idols in our lives? What if good things are removed, or may not be given to us yet, so we can focus on the Lord?

What is an Idol?

Getting married is an idol many Christian singles struggle with.

Let’s start with idolatry. Idolatry happens when our we focus so much on what our heart wants (our desires). Eventually, we put it above God. We may desire having a family one day.

Good. We may desire marriage. Good. We may desire eternal singleness. Good. We may desire success in our careers. Good. Financial security. Good. As you can see, these aren’t bad desires. It’s good to want these things. I call these good things hidden idols. They’re not bad, but they can consume us, even when we don’t realize it.

When Good Things Become Bad

Our desires can consume us when it comes before God. Then, we start to lean on our desires for happiness and security. Eventually, we stop pursuing Christ. God is no longer our priority. Our idol is. As a result, we’re no longer reading the Bible (as often or at all). Our church attendance becomes an afterthought, or we only show up around Easter, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve. We start to think God is silent but we haven’t even prayed to him in years.

Sometimes, we treat God as a side piece. We will call on Him only when we want something. Once we have it, we ghost Him. If you’re impatient, like me, you may get frustrated with God and decide to do-it-yourself (DIY). Ask Abraham and Sarah how that went in Genesis 16.

Steps to Get Back in Sync

I have news for you. If this blog made you feel some kind of way, don't ignore it. This is a nudge from the Holy Spirit. What has replaced God in your life? You have to be humble to receive correction. Is it your job? Your career? Your finances? Marriage? Desire for marriage? Singleness? Travel plans? Achieving good looks? Fitness? Technology?

Once you’ve identified what has replaced God, repent. Ask the Lord to forgive you. Go to Him with humility and ask Him to forgive you and ask for help. After that, have a mindset shift. Realize that happiness is temporary. When we rely on people and things to make us happy all the time, we will never be satisfied.

The last thing is important. Focus on being content with the Lord. This is a joy that only Christ can give you. It’s when you have peace, even when the world is a bit weird. How do you do this?  Start small. Read Genesis 1:1. Say a small prayer. Journal. Go for a walk in the park with some worship music. Find a church community that can sharpen you but also give you love (they do exist).

A Message from God

You also have another choice: keep the idol. However, I will leave you with this, it is dangerous putting something before God. The Lord has made it crystal clear how he feels about idols.

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” -Exodus 20:2-6 NIV

Until next time!

-Brittany