The Real Thing

I've been studying the second half of Exodus the last several weeks, and this week's content landed on the awful decision the children of Israel made to make and worship a golden calf instead of God, Himself. Moses is literally on the mountain receiving instruction from God that the people should not worship any other god but Him, and that they should not make any graven image, and that is exactly what they are doing! They had the God of the universe in front of them in a way that perhaps no one else had ever experienced before since the Garden of Eden, and they turned aside to a little finite statue. A fraud. Something so much less able to meet their needs than Yahweh.

My gut reaction is to think that I would never do something like this, but then I pause and dig below the surface.

I realize how many times I have chosen the counterfeit rewards of this world instead of the lasting relationship that is right in front of my face, offered to me through my Savior.

We choose the lesser things of this life and miss out on the depth of relationship that He and only He can provide.

I was in Lynchburg for several weeks this past winter. My entire purpose for being there was to understand what God was doing in my life through some difficult things I was facing. I had thought that perhaps God had given up on me. There were several beautiful days, unseasonably warm while I was there, and I found myself repeatedly sitting on a park bench overlooking the James River and the city skyline, simply being. Being in His presence. Soaking in the sunlight of His grace. And just abiding in this Truth, that He is enough. He is the deepest satisfaction of our longing for connection. We all long to worship another. Oftentimes we worship our romantic partner as the end all-be all closest connection. I suppose that probably every person in this world hungers for a deep intimate connection with another human being in which we are fully seen, fully known, fully understood, and fully accepted.

I found myself reviewing my life and all the times I had turned to someone to get this deep need met. All the times I had tried to satisfy this deep longing so vast and empty.

I realized that sometimes we look like the Israelites worshipping a dumb little calf because we haven't worked through lies that have been taught to us through our sin and the traumatic experiences that have happened to us.

Sometimes, no matter how close God is to us, something from our past colors our perception of Him and causes us to not fully experience the depth of relationship that is offered to us through Jesus Christ.

God gifts us with the church to help us grow together and experience intimacy with other believers, but our deepest soul connection is with God, Himself.

And once we have our deepest connection satisfied in God Himself, connections with others can start to become more fulfilling.

In a future post, I will share some of the specific things I've learned about how to have genuine, healthy connections with others; but for now, I shall leave you with this reminder spoken by God to us.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." Revelation 3:20