Thinking, thinking, thinking.

I've been thinking. About many, many things. I bet you have been too. It has the potential to become overwhelming, doesn't it? But then, wait! Our Lord has overcome the world, and He can overcome anything we've got on our minds.

Some topics I've been pondering: My selfishness, poverty, forced labor and slavery, sweatshops, civil wars,  my abundance of material possessions, clothing, decorations, how I spend my time, and what God would have be do about all this.

There are some serious issues in this world, and I want to please the Lord with my response.  But for any of our responses to please the Lord, we MUST start with the heart. Is my heart's desire to please our awesome God, or is it to look incredibly generous as an attempt to please men?  Will I sacrifice whatever the Lord asks of me because I treasure Him most, or will I give the minimum amount to look like a good person, and to have people applaud me? Do I think I can solve the world's problems with a hearty dose of good deeds, or do I confess that the Lord alone has the true power to save people?

When we start valuing the wrong things, it becomes about US instead of HIM, it becomes about helping people temporarily instead of saving people from hell eternally! What must we do to prevent this form happening? Because, it really can happen all too easily.

I recently listened to a fantastic and convicting sermon by pastor Mark Driscoll (of Mars Hill Church in Seattle). He passionately argued that life's problems and man's sins are really a result of one thing: idolatry.

Idolatry is the worship of anything beside the one true God. Driscoll explained (by quoting another pastor whose name I forget!) that humans are CONSTANTLY outpouring worship to someone or something. Whether you are Christian or not, we are always worshiping. It takes many forms: we can worship with our time, our money, our thoughts, our excitement. We can worship many things: our reputation (that one hit home for me), our comfort, our favorite sports team, our job, our education, our money, our humor, our image, celebrities, anything! So when we hear that God wants us to worship Him, it really is a gracious invitation to stop wasting our time with flawed idols, and to be fully satisfied by enjoying Him!

When we really do worship Him by enjoying Him, obeying Him, and being satisfied by Him, we will be increasingly willing to give up other less awesome things! Like the parable in Matthew 13:44. "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."


All of our sins stem from our worship of things other than the Lord. (Again, this is borrowed from Driscoll's sermon.) If we didn't worship materials, we wouldn't steal. If we didn't worship our reputation, we wouldn't lie. If we didn't worship comfort, we wouldn't remain idle. The list goes on.

And so this applies to every aspect of our life, including how to serve the Lord and serve the poor and the afflicted. When we worship the Lord, and don't worship other things, we will desire to go where God tells us, sacrifice what He asks of us, and do it all for His glory! It's the best of both worlds: those who are hurting receive help, and the Lord receives the worship that He really deserves.

These issues of oppression and pain exist, and God calls believers to respond in tremendous generosity.  But He wants it to happen as an act of worship and confession that God is the greatest treasure of all. He cares about His own worship more than He cares that someone is fed, because He knows that no one will truly be fed unless they worship Him! (Woah, did we just go in a circle there? Yes, we did! An awesome circle where God's wisdom is displayed!) John Piper says "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." He is the source of all satisfaction and joy. As much as we can try to solve the world's problems, the only solution comes in knowing God! Every problem is solved when we find ourself satisfied in Him, giving Him all our worship!

So if we are overwhelmed with the problems in this world, with the pain, the poverty, the disease, the lies, the abuse, the insecurities, the confusion, the adultery, the murder, the only real solution is to draw closer to God! Then He will use His willing servant for His perfect and gracious plan!