His savior poked out of the mountain and dangled not more than ten feet before worming its way back into the rocky soil. His foot had somehow managed to snag it as he tumbled down the grossly steep incline. Now, he dangled and thought about the best way to not only get upright, but get back on level ground again.
He didn’t hear his wife shrieking thirty feet above. She stood, wailing on the trail where the ground had given away beneath him. His hearing might have been stifled because his blood was rushing to his head, but the man was also distracted by his predicament. He thought about swinging to reach an outcropping of brownstone several feet to his right. Then the man realized that this kind of action probably only worked in movies and cartoons. Too much motion could cause the tree root that his life relied on to snap and he’d resume his descent.
He stared at the root and implored that it hold all of his almost two-hundred pounds as he began to pull himself up using any traction he could find near him.
★ ★ ★
Getting caught by a tree root after falling down a cliff is so cliche that it’s ridiculous. At the same time, that man met a new savior the minute his foot landed there. He relied on that water-seeking piece of carbon to stay alive. His prayers were all centered around this one thing.
If he knew Jesus, our protagonist would still want that root to stay intact so he could live another day and impact the world a little more because he was too young to die and had a lot to offer. But since he didn’t know the real God, everything this man had relied on this tree root. It was his savior. It was his idol because at that moment, it meant more to him than God ever had.
I recently discovered that I’m an idolater. I haven’t bowed down to any statues or images. I haven’t prayed to anyone other than Jesus Christ, but I’ve expected other things to manifest results that He hasn’t yet. I’ve been expecting certain events to change my life. I’ve relied on them to deliver me from the mundane. I’ve hoped they would make my dreams tangible realities. I’ve treated the gifts and desires placed in my heart as potential saviors.
What’s worse, I’ve prayed to Jesus about them and for them. That’s almost like asking your husband or wife to find you a boyfriend or girlfriend and expecting them to be alright with it. In spite of it, He’s been faithful. He’s amazing like that.
I’m not sharing this to be ridiculously emo, but rather because I’m seeing the same thing in my peers. I’ve watched other writers pine after publication and that ever elusive book. I’ve watched friends pray for their spouse, career, home and even children. I’ve seen all of us place so much significance on having these missing pieces come into our lives that we push Jesus to the side.
It’s time to refocus and realize that nothing will change my life as much as one Man can.
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So true, bro. I’m glad you’ve reached this realization because it is a good place to be; not idolatry but the realization that we’re all guilty of it.
Our wants and desires can become a never-ending abyss. And to continue to the metaphor, if we let loose of that branch that we cling so tightly to and worship, perhaps we’ll find that God was just waiting for us to stop worshipping that branch and understand that only He can sustain us.
I hear you, friend. Good thoughts.
Thanks Kathy! I’m glad you heard what I was going for. It’s funny how tight my (our) grasp can be to the things that aren’t necessarily unimportant, but rather, are less important than we make them!
Great post. We’ve all been there and are all prone to take God’s gifts and begin to worship the provision instead of the Provider. The white knuckle grip we hang on to worldly gifts with is the very thing that betrays us, well me for sure. Often our senses gain too much of our trust as we let our faith whither like a root until it isn’t strong enough to deliver us from the imminent fall we’re trying to avoid.
How many times do we have to learn that lesson, or is it just me? Thanks for your real life honesty. Maybe we should start an “idolater” group where when we are first introduced we have to say, “Hi, my name is (insert name here) and I’m an idolater.”
I’ve actually come face to face with my idols recently, and it definitely isn’t pretty. I guess when we follow Christ and aren’t bowing down to little status, we think we’re impervious to idols. But I know I have looked at other things to try to break me out of the mundane, to be my “savior” from certain things in life.
Great post man, and challenging!
Very true. Ugh, I know how hard it can be to let go of something, and trust God really does know better