Ouch!

I was surfing through a few blogs that I've found and like to read and came across this entry that really, really convicted me for several reasons.

“Though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against Me”

I read this scripture in the dim earliness of this morning, and it lodged in my spirit like a splinter, poking and prodding me into active thought.

The Lord is speaking about His people, the chosen ones, the ones He has performed awesome deed after awesome deed for, only to see them continually flirt, court, and finally bed down with flashy impostors, all the while enjoying the fruits of His deliverance.

This speaks to me so profoundly. Israel didn’t leap into idolatry’s arms. It was the slow, gradual pull of easier things that led them there. Easy things. Moderate things. Don’t-rock-the-boat things. Why strive for the highest calling? Won’t the lower suffice? Why follow hard after His heart when a snooze in the hammock of apathy is so much more appealing? (ANDIE'S NOTE: Can I be honest and say that I struggle with this? Sometimes I get tired of pressing on and a "snooze" does sound more appealing. Satan & his footholds! Ughhh)

Israel wanted the shortcut to blessing, and so do I. But even when the outcome seems laudable (hey, I love my kids, my husband, my marriage), when it eclipses my love for God, it is idolatry.

Idolatry! It’s such an ugly word. Yet the definition is so simple, and like Israel I continually place the good above the best and reap the consequences.

The consequences? I speak lies about God. (OUCH!) When I set my children, or husband, or love of writing, or any thing above God, my perception of Him becomes skewed. I misrepresent Him, both to myself, and to the world. I view Him as colder, more distant, indifferent, and even cruel; someone who might at any moment inflict pain upon me for the sole purpose of watching me squirm. When I am in the midst of my idolatry I view the world as a terrifying place, one that is spinning out of control while God shrugs and mumbles “they asked for it.” Lies. He is not so, but I cannot see this through the haze of deception brought on by refusing to subvert the temporal to the Holy. His chastisement ceases to be that of a loving Daddy who cares about my eternal state and instead seems to be that of a harsh taskmaster who is determined to break me into pieces. Even reading His own words becomes difficult; I forget balance and see only the fire and brimstone.

When I view God inaccurately, my first response needs to be repentance. I need to examine my life and see what I have tried to place upon the throne where He alone belongs. He does not change. Yesterday, Today, and Forever, His character stands immovable and perfect: too wise to be unjust and too loving to be unkind. If I find His presence difficult to enter it is undoubtedly because I feel the weight of His sorrow at my prostitution.