Too Much?

I do not trust in my bow; I do not count on my sword to save me. [Psalm 44.6]

Throughout history man has struggled to keep proper perspective on tools. A bow and a sword are tools. Weapons, yes, but tools nonetheless, for what is a weapon but a tool for warfare?

Some of Israel's greatest recorded victories were those where they did not even engage their enemies in conventional warfare with weapons. Did that make weapons wrong? No, but the moment weapons are trusted instead of God Who gave them, they have become idols.

How can we be sure we have not idolized our weapons (tools) instead of God? The answer is quite simple: remove the tools to prove it!

And, here is where self-justification of doubt begins.

I, for one, struggle immensely with the idea that God does not need tools to accomplish things on the earth. It disturbs me to think that I might even possibly be trusting tools instead of God. This same concern applies to medicine. We are ALL groomed to say, "God uses medicine," but then what if we remove medicine... Do we still believe it is God Who is Healer?

The list of things we can trust instead of God is not limited to just weapons or medicine though. It could be overwhelming to count the things we potentially trust instead of God. What are we supposed to do then, get rid of everything and die just so we can be sure we are trusting only in God? The sarcasm alone in this question should alert us that something is wrong! But Jesus actually provided some insight by His universal call to all who would follow Him:

Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. [Luke 9.23]

In light of Jesus' focused call, perhaps an exercise of rejecting anything we have grown to trust in might be revealing. "But, couldn't we die?" That is entirely the point! 

Until we have determined and believe that our life is entirely supported by God alone, we are idol-ridden and cannot possibly please God with faith that He exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek him (Hebrews 11.6). Is not this faith in God alone what Jesus so blatantly and ultimately displayed by submitting to death on the Cross? We can claim "moderation" all we want to, but nothing today better explains the powerless disconnect of the Church from Jesus-like power. Talking about faith and walking in faith are two entirely different things: one is religion, and the other is the Kingdom of God.

What separates us from Jesus-like faith? Any and everything we trust instead of God. The first place to look for these things is in our closet of things we say, "God uses [insert tool name here]..." Oh, and for the record, the phrase, "God uses..." is typically preceded by another idol-identifying phrase, "God gave us [insert tool name here] and therefore..."

Too much?

What are we willing to give up to follow Christ? Jesus knew this struggle and that is precisely why He didn't "start easy and work into it" - no - He went right to the heart of the matter in demanding that we affect our own death sentence in following Him. To fear death is to have no faith at all in God and consequently to be of no service at all to God. Only when we die to every thought of self-preservation can we enjoy the abundance of life in, and service to, Christ Jesus.

Father, if ever I have painted myself in a corner, this is it. All of human experience and history says death is final, but Jesus' example stands alone saying otherwise. May I be found following His example and not my experience. May I be found trusting You alone and nothing of man's substitutes. So be it.