Hello beloved child of God, I hope you’re fine by God’s grace, and that your week is starting in a wonderful way.
Today, we’re going to talk about idolatry.
I know this is a quite sensitive topic because Christians hate feeling like they are being told that they have idols. Some Christians voluntarily bow down to images and are hurt by the fact that they’re being accused of idolatry, while other Christians would never bow down before a physical idol, but their hearts are full of idols.
In order to better understand the concept of idolatry, we need to define what an idol is.
People usually say that an idol is whatever takes the place if God in your life. This statement is true but practically it may be difficult for someone to understand what it means.
Jeremiah 17:5-8 NIV
This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord . That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord , whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
From the Bible verses above, we can conclude that an idol is whatever you put your trust in.
Which means that anything basically can become an idol. It doesn’t have to be a statue/an image. An idol can be
- Your parent
- Your spouse
- Your job
- Your boss
- Your favourite actor/actress
- Your friend
- Your fiance
- Your boyfriend
- Your willpower
- Your own self
- Your self-image
- Your religion
- Your body
- Your church
- Your pastor
- Your marriage
- Your virginity/your purity ring
- Sex
- Drugs
- Alcohol
- Food
Anything you put your trust in can be defined as an idol.
Today, we’re going to discuss about 3 signs that God is breaking your idolatry.
1. Your Idols Don’t Value/Praise/Appreciate/Validate You (Anymore)
Idolatry may seem sweet at first especially when your idol seems to give you the satisfaction, validation and appreciation which you need.
Nevertheless, when your idol stops validating you, or doesn’t validate you at all, you may feel broken and hurt.
Your idol can be your pastor. You can put your trust in your pastor to validate you/praise you/approve of you. If your idol was your pastor and that you volunteered with all your heart to receive praises from your pastor but your pastor didn’t even notice, didn’t thank you, congratulate you, validate you, or praise you, then this is a sure sign that God is working on you to break your idolatry.
Your idol could be the drugs you were taking to feel better, or sex which you used to feel validated, and it worked till it stopped working. Now you receive no pleasure, no validation, no satisfaction no matter how much sex, drugs or alcohol you have. The doses which used to make you feel great now leave you miserable and increasing the doses doesn’t work. This is a sign that God is working on you to break your idolatry so that you’ll seek to find joy and completeness not in drugs or sex but in God.
2. Your Idols Let You Down When You Need Them The Most
Isaiah 31:1-3 NIV
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord . Yet He too is wise and can bring disaster; He does not take back His words. He will rise up against that wicked nation, against those who help evildoers. But the Egyptians are mere mortals and not God; their horses are flesh and not spirit. When The Lord stretches out His hand, those who help will stumble, those who are helped will fall; all will perish together.
Many times throughout The Old Testament, the Israelites were in danger, but instead of seeking God for help, they turned to their idols (other nations to help them, for example Egypt) and it never worked.
God made it such that their idols would either be powerless to help them, or they would simply let them down.
God hasn’t changed and He still works this way with us.
When we put our trust in others, they become our idols. He allows it in such a way that they disappoint us, not because He doesn’t love us, but because He wants us to shift our trust from our idols to Him.
Your idols may refuse to help you, to give you money, attention etc.
If your idols have been letting you down these days (friends, spouse, drugs etc.) you can be sure that this is a sign that God is working on you to break your idolatry. This disappointment is not a punishment but an opportunity for realignment. Just lean in, and take your trust off those things and give it to God.
3. Your Idols Turn Against You
Ezekiel 23:22-24, 35 NIV
“Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will stir up your lovers against you, those you turned away from in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side— the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, the men of Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, handsome young men, all of them governors and commanders, chariot officers and men of high rank, all mounted on horses. They will come against you with weapons, chariots and wagons and with a throng of people; they will take up positions against you on every side with large and small shields and with helmets. I will turn you over to them for punishment, and they will punish you according to their standards. “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Since you have forgotten me and turned your back on me, you must bear the consequences of your lewdness and prostitution.”
In the Bible verses above, God is speaking to the Israelites who chose their idols over Him, and He tells them that He will turn their idols against them.
Your idols may turn against you by stopping to give you what you obtained from them in the past (for example; satisfaction, sex, rewards, gifts etc.)
Your idols who used to comfort you may end up arguing with you or destroying you, breaking your heart, or giving up on you.
This is only a normal consequence of idolatry.
All the signs mentioned above are not for God to condemn you, He is just trying to shift your focus because He wants you to love Him and put your trust in Him. He knows that every idol will disappoint you, and because He loves you He wants you to go to the right source.
This is what God said about Himself:
- I AM your provider (Jehovah Jireh)
- I AM your peace (Jehovah Shalom)
- I AM The One who heals you ( Jehovah Rapha)
- I AM your righteousness, The One who makes you righteous (Jehovah Tsidkenu)
- I AM The One who sanctifies you, who makes you holy and set apart (Jehovah Mekkodishkem)
- I AM The One who will give you Victory, I AM your victory banner (Jehovah Nissi)
- I AM ever present for you, your ever present help in time of need (Jehovah Shammah)
God already said He would do all that for us.
What we are looking for in idols, God already has all of it. He breaks our idolatry not to reject us but to push us to trust in Him, to take all that trust we have in idols and put it in Him.
Prayer
Father Lord God Almighty King of Glory, I confess I have many idols in my heart. Lord please I can’t get rid of them without Your Help. Deliver me from idolatry, help me put my trust in You only. In Jesus Christ’s Name. Amen.
It’s Now Your Turn
Ask The Holy Spirit to guide you as you make a list of all your idols.
Have you seen some of these signs of God working on you to break your idolatry?
Please let us know in the comments section.
Bible Study
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