I would like to share with you a sweet story by an unknown author that presents a powerful truth. I will summarize the first part. A little girl named Jenny finds delight in some dime store pearls. She works extra hard to earn the money to buy them…
How Jenny loved those pearls. She
wore them everywhere--to kindergarten, to bed, and when she went out with her mother
to run errands. The only time she didn't wear them was in the shower; her mother
had told her that they would turn her neck green!
Now Jenny had a very loving daddy. When Jenny went to bed, he would get up from
his favorite chair every night and read Jenny her favorite story. One
night when he finished the story, he said, "Jenny, do you love me?"
"Oh yes, Daddy, you know I love you," the little girl said.
"Well, then, give me your pearls."
"Oh! Daddy, not my pearls!" Jenny said. "But you can have Rosie,
my favorite doll. Remember her? You gave her to me last year for my birthday.
And you can have her tea party outfit, too. Okay?"
"Oh no, darling, that's okay." Her father brushed her cheek with a
kiss. "Good night, little one."
A week later, her father once again asked Jenny after her story, "Do you
love me?"
"Oh yes, Daddy, you know I love you."
"Well, then, give me your pearls."
"Oh, Daddy, not my pearls! But you can have Ribbons, my toy horse. Do you
remember her? She's my favorite. Her hair is so soft, and you can play with it
and braid it and everything. You can have Ribbons if you want her, Daddy,"
the little girl said to her father.
"No, that's okay," her father said and brushed her cheek again with a
kiss. "God bless you, little one. Sweet dreams."
Several days later, when Jenny's father came in to read her a story, Jenny was
sitting on her bed and her lip was trembling. "Here, Daddy," she
said, and held out her hand. She opened it and her beloved pearl necklace was
inside. She let it slip into her father's hand.
With one hand her father held the plastic pearls and with the other he pulled
out of his pocket a blue velvet box. Inside of the box were real, genuine,
beautiful pearls. He had them all along. He was waiting for Jenny to give
up the cheap stuff so he could give her the real thing.
So it is with our Heavenly Father. He is waiting for us to give up the cheap
things in our lives so that he can give us beautiful treasure.
Are you holding onto things which the Lord wants you to let go of? Are you
holding on to harmful or unnecessary partners, relationships, habits and
activities which you have become so attached to that it seems impossible to let
go? Sometimes, it is so hard to see what is in the other hand but do believe
this one thing....
The Lord will never take away something without giving you something better in
its place. Amen! How true it is that God will
always give us something better because His gifts are eternal and fulfilling, whereas
our worldly treasures are momentary and only briefly satisfying. I do want to
be careful with that statement and make sure we don’t take it to a prosperity
gospel extent, like if I give up my Honda, God is going to give me a Ferrari!
But most of us, if we stop to
evaluate honestly, have these cheap, worldly treasures that we cling to for
comfort. We might call them coping mechanisms, hobbies, passions, comfort food,
shopping therapy, achieving success, or…idols (ouch!). Idols do not have to be
naturally bad things, but can simply be good things that we use in an unhealthy
way. Here are a few measures I use to identify idols: anything that you turn to
before God or more than God, something that is difficult to go a whole day without, a way that of trying to control life, or anything consumes your thoughts
frequently.
Various idols do look different. For instance, food is a delightful gift God has given us to enjoy, but when our day revolves around what we can eat next that will bring us joy/pleasure/comfort, it sounds like an idol. You shouldn’t go a day without eating, but need to deal with being consumed by it constantly. Then again, with eating disorders/control, it can be just as consuming to constantly think about not eating or how to eat as little as possible.
God has revealed to me ways that I have been coping that have recently become unhealthy and (ooh, I hate to say this) idolatrous. I know that I have throughout my life enjoyed comfort food, escaping to books or TV, and occasional retail therapy. In a small measure, sometimes these things can be useful (though not always most productive) to brighten a tough day or set my heart on a lighter note. But since the miscarriages, it slowly has gotten worse until I finally realized that I am leaning on these methods of comfort or pleasure as a way of coping INSTEAD of turning to God. It is embarrassing (which is just pride), and it is heart-breaking to know that I have substituted the truth and everlasting comfort of God for such paltry things. It is also frustrating that my flesh fights to live the way I want to live and keep my petty joys when God is waiting (lovingly and patiently) for me to trade in these things that do not really satisfy for His abundant, eternal gifts. I am taking the Walking Worthy class, and it is one major way the Lord and I are dealing with these issues.
My dear sister, what consumes you? What beautiful but temporary thing of this world brings you comfort, joy, or peace for a moment, but then you have to turn to it again or to something else to try to continue that comfort? What do you turn to instead of God? How do you ‘cope’ when life is tough? What is the thing that if you don’t get to do it every day or a certain number of times a week, that it really frustrates you? The truth is that most of us have some idols, even if they are fairly well contained. Perhaps you are going through a great spiritual time right now and this is not a great issue – Fantastic! But keep checking your heart because idols creep in all too easily. And perhaps you can be a resource of compassion, strength, and help to a sister who is currently struggling.
For
those of us convicted that we hold some things in this world a little too
closely, let us turn to God and offer these unfulfilling things back to Him.
Let us meditate on the truth of His word – find Scripture that speaks to your
situation or to the general heart condition beneath your coping. Find safe
people who love and accept you to talk to, confess your struggles, and get some
encouragement, accountability, and potentially ideas of how to deal with it. Let
us keep seeking God regarding these issues until we can truly let them go and
take instead His lasting, fulfilling treasure. In doing this, we will honor the
Lord by seeking Him first, and we will simultaneously enjoy more of the freedom
and abundant life that He bought for us at such a great price!
“It
is for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not
be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1
--Judith Graham
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