What Are Your Idols?

What’s holding you back in your relationship with God?

The last few months, God has made it clear to me that I’ve been guilty of idolatry. No, I don’t have a hidden trove of wooden, golden, and silver statues hidden away, but I have been hiding an idol within my heart.

You see, I have idolized the god of security. I have trusted my own ability to earn a paycheck rather than my Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides. I have clung so tightly to the security of a job for our financial needs that I’ve failed to realize God is the One who gives and takes away.

For over a decade, I’ve longed to serve God full-time, building a business coaching others through the pain of adultery, abuse, and divorce. I’ve longed to come alongside single moms and be a voice of encouragement and hope. I’ve longed to build a career that truly helps others by guiding them through the process of transformation.

But, I’ve been limited by my need to pay my bills and earn a living. It’s quite the conundrum.

Over the last year or so, God has been challenging me to trust Him with our financial needs. It was a little over a year ago, I clearly heard Him tell me He was going to ask me to quit my job, even though it doesn’t make financial sense. He made it clear my obedience was a gateway to greater blessings than anything I could imagine.

It’s been a year of challenge from God, a year of determining whether I truly trust Him with my finances. It’s honestly silly because God owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10-12). He is our Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides. I’ve seen Him work in my finances in crazy ways, and He has repeatedly confirmed His plans for me over the last.

So, a couple of months ago, I laid it all on the altar. With fear and trepidation, I put our financial future on the line, trusting God to do what only He can do.

I want to remind you that God works on each of us differently. Just because He is challenging me in this area does not mean He has the same journey for you. I am not encouraging you to simply walk away from a job. However, the encouragement I offer is to listen to God and obey at all costs.

Just as so many in scripture followed without question.

As I’ve begun my annual trek through the Bible, I’ve come across several passages that have captured my mind. In Genesis 22, Abraham is called to offer his son Isaac on the altar. This story is about more than just a father’s love for his son; Isaac was also the chosen heir through which God’s promises to Abraham would be fulfilled. Isaac represented every promise God had made to Abraham. Yet, without question, Abraham was obedient, believing God could raise Isaac from the dead to keep His promise alive. God revealed Himself as Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides, as Abraham did the unthinkable.

The story repeats itself in Isaac’s own son, Jacob. No, Jacob didn’t offer his son on the altar, but in Genesis 35 he takes stock of his life. He recognizes that he has been holding onto idols of his own, and he makes the intentional effort to purge the idols from his household. He placed them all on the altar.

Scripture also records the story of the rich young ruler, one person who chose not to put his idols on the altar. He chose to continue his life, clinging to his wealth rather than surrendering it all to God. Sadly, he never experienced the abundant life and the many blessings God had planned for him because he chose his wealth over obedience to God.

As I’ve reflected on these passages and my own journey, I’ve discovered several important lessons.

First, we must be willing to lay all our idols on the altar. I don’t know what idols you are clinging to. Maybe it’s security. Maybe it’s money. Or maybe it’s your marriage or your kids or your dreams. It really doesn’t matter what the idol is. It only matters that we, as Christians, acknowledge God’s place in our lives, that we give Him supreme authority. We must remember He is the resurrection and the life. If He asks us to give Him something, He will replace it with something even better. He can resurrect our hopes, our dreams, our finances from the dead.

Second, God is relentless in His pursuit of His children. God isn’t satisfied with the status quo. He wants abundance (John 10:10)! He wants us to live lives that are overflowing with His goodness and grace. If we are holding tightly to an idol, He is going to pursue us relentlessly until we surrender. He loves us too much to let us settle for something less than His best.

Third, my acts of obedience open the doors of God’s blessings. I don’t know of one biblical character that didn’t understand this concept. In John 8:31, Jesus says those who are obedient to His teachings are His disciples, the ones who experience true freedom. From Genesis to Revelation, scripture talks about the correlation between obedience and blessings. You can’t read scripture without acknowledging this truth.

Finally, obedience can usher in a new identity.  Maybe you are looking for a new identity. I don’t know what that means for you, but I have been through the process of recreating my identity. When I walked through divorce, I had to reinvent myself. I had to relearn who I was, what I enjoyed. I became a runner, something I had never been before. But, I found such great strength and joy in running! That’s where God met me. Maybe you too are longing for a new identity. Maybe you want to start your own business, change your reputation, or do something you’ve never done before. Maybe God is only waiting for you to surrender.

Back in Genesis 35, we see God tell Jacob to get ready to move to Bethel. Verse 2, Jacob tells his household, “Get rid of all your pagan idols, purify yourselves, and put on clean clothing.” Basically, Jacob was telling them to search themselves and see what idols they were clinging to. It was time to surrender everything to God. In verse 3, Jacob proclaims that the God who has pursued him all his life is calling them to Bethel, to a new season in life.

In the next verses, we see Jacob collecting all the household idols and getting rid of them. Then, a terror fell on all the people because they knew God was with Jacob and his household (Genesis 35:4). In verses 9-10, God blessed Jacob and gave him a new name, a new identity.

As you read this passage, I encourage you to ask yourself what idols you need to put on the altar, what areas do you need to surrender to God. Whatever it is, let go and instead cling to God. He’s got you!