Menstrual Cloths-

THE SCRIPTURE is long today - but read it. 

This is an important message-

Isaiah 30:20-22

Although the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more... 

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." 

Then you will defile your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, "Away with you!"  (Italics mine)

The times we are living in are just plain HARD!

But don't think for a minute that these times have not been sifted through the loving fingers of our Sovereign God.  He's allowing these hard times.   He ALLOWS the bread of adversity and the water of affliction.  For many, the adversity and the affliction are of epic proportion and have bombarded us to almost helplessness. 

Little did I know at the time, but the tsunami that swept into my life in June 2006 (see last Friday's post) was the bread of adversity and the water of affliction.  Suffering and sorrow became my teachers.  And trust me, there was not a moment for years to come that they were not present.

In July of 2006, the Lord allowed me to read the above Scripture.  Did you catch the last part?  "You will defile your idols over laid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, "Away with you!" 

(Can you believe that's in Scripture?  Menstrual cloths?  Gasp!)   Girlfriend, it's there!  I marvel at the word pictures God gives us - sometimes just to gross us out.  But you see that's what God wants to do with the idols in our lives.  They are like menstrual cloths to Him.  He wants them gone!  (Hence the list from yesterday's post.)

I was sister super Christian in 2006, at least I thought I was.  I can remember reading this and thinking, "Well, this doesn't refer to me because I don't have any idols in my life." 

HA!

It would take years of walking with the teachers of suffering and sorrow before my eyes and ears were opened - to idols that were such a part of the fabric of my being - that I was totally impotent of seeing them for what they were.   These gods were my lifestyle. 

You see, in short, I was a snotty social lite!  Everything had to be just so.  I had to be friends with just the right people.  From what I wore, to how my house looked; to where I lived; to where other's lived; to where I shopped - even grocery shopped!  Everything had to be perfect.  Ashamedly, and I am ashamed to tell you this, I inadvertently looked down on people who were not like me.

Yet before healing could come - and it did - I would have to wake up to these idols that God wanted GONE!  Not only would I have to wake up to them - I'd have to acknowledge them for what they were - gods - sin - the idols of the fabric of my being.

NOW, I refuse to get my nails done.  I almost refuse to grocery shop at Harris Teeter.  (I know it sounds silly.)  But it was part of that perfect/snotty image I wanted to portray.  Heaven forbid shopping at Food Lion with the people from Mexico and the retirement center.  But now, that's where you'll find me.

Whenever I entertain in my home or have my team over etc, my sweet husband most always offers to blow the driveway and deck for me.  Now, I almost won't let him.  (Sometimes I do.)  But I've been delivered from "image and lifestyle."   It is no longer important to me anymore.  I almost want to use small things like blowing the driveway to show God - "See!  I have not forgotten Lord." 

The slightest invitation to join the life I once knew - makes me sick.  Why?  Because after walking for years with suffering and sorrow, I finally heard the voice behind me saying, "This is the way I want you to walk Tara.  Throw away that thinking; the pretense; all of it!  Throw it away like you would a menstrual cloth.

If God has allowed the the bread of adversity or the water of affliction to come into your life - would you be willing to ask Him if there are any idols that are part of the fabric of your being that He wants to reveal?

Then pray:
"Lord, give me the courage to face them and turn from them."

Next Post:  Good things that come from the teachers of suffering and sorrow -

Smashing the Idols of the Heart

Isaiah 2:8-9 (NLT)

The land is filled with idols.  The people bow down and worship these things they have made.  So now everyone will be humbled and brought low.  The Lord cannot simply ignore their sins!

Remember a few weeks ago, I told you, it would take courage to read a few of these posts?  Today is one of those days.

As discusseed since mid-August, the Lord is shaking not only our nation, but the world as well. 

• 2001  attack on America-
• 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and earthquake
• 2005 Cat 5 Hurricane that took out an entire American city and much of the landscape
• 2008 Housing and real estate market crash - that affected the entire global economy and continues to affect the global economy
• 2010 Haiti earthquake 
• 2011 Japan earthquake/tsunami
• 2011 Tornado season - one of the worst on record. Taking out entire cities and towns
• 2011 Winter season - record setting year for blizzards
• 2011 Record setting famine for many generational farmers across the US
• 2011 Earthquake/hurricane affecting much of the East Coast

Often these "shakings" affect not only the landscape, but has a drastic affect on us and our families.   Sometimes ushering in storms and tsunami's of unprecedented proportion.

So why is God allowing the shaking?  I believe ONE of the reasons is found in our Scripture for the day.  (Read it if you have not already.)

The land is filled with idols.  I believe that God is smashing the idols of our heart.

Now what are idols?  Are they the little carved figurines made of wood or marble or gold or silver?  Yes possibly - but idols extend much further.  An idol is anything given sacred value and power in our lives.  It is anything we put before God.  An idol does not have to be a physcial object - it can be thoughts or desires.  Let me give you a few modern day examples:

• Money; our bank accounts; our portfolios - it's what we ultimately trust. 
• Our homes; our housing values; our credit ratings
• Our stuff!  Cars, boats, TV, iphones, our furniture; our antiques; our collections; obsession with decorating and staging.
• Newspaper and computers  (How much time do you spend reading the paper or on Facebook; Twitter etc... vs the time you spend reading your Bible?)  Ouch!
• People - sports figures; celebrity; experts in any given field
• Religious icons - (I got to meet Beth Moore last November at the LifeWay Women's forum.  Our collision course was totally accidental.   This was Women's Leadership forum - Christian leadership.  Yet you would have thought that God had come down in human form by the way she was received.  She would never want this kind of notariety.  She lives to point that notariety to One deserving of it - Jesus.  Yet women were fawning over her unlike I've ever seen.  I was quite shocked.
• Our desire for acceptance and approval from others.
• Our wardrobe and shoes
• Our calendar and daily list of things to do- (Sometimes my list of things to do becomes my god.  I can't see straight until every thing is checked off.)
• Self!  What we want; what we need; our time
• Self sufficiency - "I can do it myself.  I don't need anyone."
• Trinkets - such as cross necklaces or angel lapels that we describe as our protection or as good luck.
• Prestige; social position or prominence.
• Greed; lust for more; never enough
• Food; alcohol; drugs; sexual addiction; porn
• Our education or perhaps the "experts!"  (I live in an area of 3 major universities.  Oh, the experts!)
• Environmentalism - I've started calling it the 'green god.'   It's the new altar at which many are worshipping - Mother Earth.    There's nothing wrong with recycling - NOTHING - we should recycle.  But if you are counting on earth loving conservation to make you righteous and clean before God- it's an idol.
• Politics - This one is near and dear to my heart.  But if we aren't careful, we'll begin looking to a political figure or political party to fix all of our issues - never seeing Jesus as the ONE with the answer.

This is a hard message.  If it makes you feel any better, the reason I could list these off with such ease is because at one time or another - many of the above has unintentionally been the object of my affection or passion.  A.K.A.: my idol.

Scripture says, "people bow down and worship these things they have made.   So now everyone will be humbled and brought low.  (How drastically has your world changed in the last 5 years?  Have your circumstances humbled you?)  The LORD cannot simply ignore their sins."

God is smashing the idols of our heart.  All that we once held dear and built our lives upon - for many have come to ruin and to nothing. 

More tomorrow-

Can you name idols I've not mentioned? 
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Tsunami's of Life

If you are dry spiritually, come and be refreshed and renewed.

First Baptist Charlotte, September 16-17

I'll be there teaching, Quiet Time 101

For more information:

http://www.ncbaptist.org/index.php?id=1703

Tsunami's of Life

Psalm 27:13

I am confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Did you ever see Google earth pictures following the 2004 Southeast Asia tsunami?   The topography of the earth was totally different following the tsunami.  The images are stunning.

So it is with the landscape of our heart and lives following the storms of life.  However, some storms that come our way are tsunami's.  They ravage us emotionally, spiritually and sometimes physically.  As a result, the topography of our lives are stunningly different following a storm of this magnitude.  And isn't it amazing how with some tsunami's, the ripple effect lasts for years - perhaps even a lifetime.

The third storm I mentioned yesterday, was actually not a storm but was a tsunami.   If you are regular reader, than you know that I'm a big believer in transparency and authenticity.  That's why I share so much of my life with you - my failings and my successes.  But in this case, I will not be able to share the details. 

However, let me say, the tidal wave that hit my life in June of 2006 following the resurgence of my daughter's health, ushered in such gloom, hardship, uncertainty and insecurity - that by the time December 2009 came around - I despaired of life.  It was rock bottom.  I was worn out and worn down.  And after 4 years, things continued to get worse, not better.  I found myself asking Jesus just "to take me home to be with Him."  That way, the pain wouldn't be so despairing.

I look at pictures of Christmas that year.  I'm smiling and having fun.  But behind the smile, was a broken woman.  I never tried to explain the pain to anyone else.   There are some things in life that NO ONE besides Jesus can fix.

In my prayer time each day, all I could muster was, "I choose to trust You Lord.  I don't feel like trusting You, but I choose to.  I feel like You keep throwing me under the bus.  But I know that's not Your mojo.  That's not how You operate.  I know that somehow, some way, You will be faithful.  Help me to hang on to You, Lord.  I'm slipping."

I know that many of you perhaps feel the same way.  You are living through  not just a storm, or even a hurricane, but a tsunami of epic proportion.  Tidal waves of such intensity that you wonder, "how in the world am I going to get out of bed today?"

Over the next few posts, I want to share what I learned and am continuing to learn through the tidal wave of 2006.  Life's tsunami's:

• Draw us closer to Jesus as He reveals our idols.  (Oh no, here we go.)
• Allow us to experience His faithfulness in the everyday -
• Bring fruit - (if we'll allow it )
• Strengthens the bonds of our relationship with Him.
• Works good -

Psalm 27  became my song during this period.  (Read it!)  But my favorite verse is 13, "I am still confident of this:  I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."  I often felt like the living dead.  But God was promising me, that I would once again join those in the "the land of the living."

God is faithful.  And if you are in a storm of any kind - even a tsunami - press into Jesus unlike ever before.  And you too, can boldly proclaim,  "I am CONFIDENT of this, I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."

Have a good weekend.  See you Monday-