Wholeness Sample

CREATION v CREATOR

The crucial unmet needs of love, purpose, and value are described in scripture as “thirsts.” They are the powerful motivators behind how we live our lives - every one of us has a daily choice of what we turn to quench our thirst.

To put it simply, we either turn to creation or the Creator.

Scripture literally calls anything we turn to feed our crucial needs of love, purpose, and value an idol if it is not God. Idols can be relationships, careers, achievements, or material possessions. These things are not wrong in and of themselves, but when we use them as a source of our security and identity, problems easily arise as they will never satisfy our soul's deepest yearnings.

I believe creation is like the desserts of life. God wants us to enjoy desserts but not find our sustenance in them. Let’s face it, having dessert for breakfast, lunch, and dinner will make us sick over the long term. God is our main meal, He is our sustenance, and if for some reason there is no dessert, we are still okay because we have Him to depend on. The danger is that creation is deceptive in that although it can quench our thirsts in the short term, it just doesn’t sustain us in the long term. Creation will always leave us hungry for more. It is a short-term, false hope that can become an anxiety-easing drug that Satan knows how to lure us into dependency to.

The journey of wholeness is one of discerning what areas in our life we need to surrender our need for control over and instead trust God in. The quickest way to discern an idol is to consider the areas we seek to control the most. These tend to trigger negative emotions like anger, guilt, or anxiety.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

• What in creation feeds your sense of value?
• What areas in your life trigger the most negative emotions in you?
• What areas in your life do you find yourself wanting to control the most?

PRAY:

God, I pray that you will reveal the things I depend on above you in my life. Please show me the idols I have made that replace my dependence on you. Help me trust in you as my source, my all, my everything.