Whenever we take what God has done and put it in the place of himself, we become idolators.
~Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?
~ paul, The Least of The Apostles, in Galatians 4
Oh beloved, it is true. He Loves us more than we can ever know. While He does not need us to love Him back, a Being who Loves, loves being Loved in return. And yet in our lives, we seem to want to forget this and focus on something else.
He floods us with His peace, and we look to the next problem for anxiety.
He provides for our needs, and we just want more.
He heals our wounds, and we cop an injury.
He frees our minds, and we use the freedom to worry.
He satisfies our souls, and we listen to our flesh instead.
He gives us friends, and we judge them instead of loving them.
He binds us together, in intimate communion with His very Self, and we look to anything… ANYTHING else than this to find fulfillment.
What is it about us that keeps our focus off the One Who is now the only One who matters? Why do we allow the distractions of the things that used to enslave us to invite our gaze. Are we not like Lot’s wife who looked longingly over her shoulder at Sodom and Gomorrah?
Perhaps this is because we have never really, truly looked in the right Direction before. Oh, we have seen the wonderful things that G_d has done for us, and we have even sensed the effect of His healing and blessing and presence and Life. But, have we ever looked beyond the things G_d has done for us, and simply put our gaze onto Him?
May this fool of a writer preach for a moment? Once you do beloved, you will never be the same. He is beautiful beyond compare. Nothing (read no thing) He has ever made or given can even begin to compete with the Giver.
Nothing can or should serve as a proxy for His goodness. Just as surely as G_d enjoys being Loved by us, we can enjoy the blessings He gives us. But to focus on the product of our relationship – rather than the relationship itself – is to fall into a serious error. We begin looking to finite things for fulfillment of an infinite need, which is simply goofy.
Can we see it? Once we see the blessings for what they are (merely symbols of His goodness), and once they have served their purpose, we can keep them or lay them aside without a second thought. For now, the Giver is the focus – as He should have been all along. Nothing can ever be as important again.
The blessings and gifts He pours out on us are simply tokens of the real Thing. Every blessing is but a fractal of the Person who is doing the blessing. They are icons that point us to His Person. In Him is the real fulness, the real blessing, and the real wholeness we need. So much so, that even when the tokens are lost or broken or stolen there is no need for disappointment. For, the icons have already done their job; they have shown us Him. He becomes preeminent in all things. And when this occurs, all is right in our world.
Him beloved. Him alone. You in Him. Him and you. There is no other need for anything else.
