The Regular Work of Weeding the Heart

My son and I recently volunteered at a local nature center, helping to eradicate invasive plant species. The center’s naturalist gave us a tutorial on the plants to look out for, how to remove them, and provided the necessary tools to do so.

I decided to tackle the smaller plants, thinking they would be easier to remove. It didn’t take long for me to discover that while they appeared small above the ground—just little green shoots popping up here and there—below the soil, their roots stretched out wide. I tugged and pulled and found the roots went several feet sideways from the plant. The bigger plants required even more effort, using the special tools provided by the nature center. At the end of the afternoon, we were all sore and tired.

The naturalist pointed out that when an invasive species is removed, native plants instantly start growing again. Their seeds have laid there in the soil, ready and waiting for the opportunity to grow. While the work seemed overwhelming because of how many plants there were on the property, this news gave us hope that all the work was worth it.

This plant removal experience presented for me a clear picture of the invasive nature of idols in our hearts. Those things we love and worship apart from God; the things we place our hope and trust in to make our lives better. All those things we turn to for refuge apart from our Savior—things like comfort, control, success, and acceptance.

Some idols seem small and insignificant. Powerless even. Perhaps idols like that of comfort—one which everyone worships in some form or another. It’s an idol often born out of the need to de-stress and relax, yet one that quickly becomes a go-to savior at the end of every day. However innocent our idols seem, their roots run deep and the longer we let them grow, the more work is required to remove them.

Those bigger idols—the ones we’ve worshipped for so long, it’s hard to imagine not having them in our life—are like the weeds that have grown into trees, blocking out the light of the sun. Over time, we’ve grown used to the darkness. Even worse, we don’t notice the ways our idols slowly advance into deeper recesses of our hearts. These idols are ones we’ve built our life around. They rule over and govern our choices; they reign over our days. Like the removal of invasive plants, it often requires a team effort to identify and remove such idols. This is when we need the help of trusted and godly friends to come alongside us in the effort. We need them to shine a light on things we can’t see. We need them to show us the necessary tools—the means of grace—to use in their eradication. We need their encouragement to continue on in the work, as long as it takes.

At the nature center, my son and I learned that invasive plants must be removed down to the roots. If we just pull and break them at the stalk, they will only grow back stronger than before. This is a good reminder that temporary solutions, while helpful in the moment, do not get to the roots of our idolatry. We need more than distractions or inspirational messages to deal with idols of the heart. We need the transforming work of the gospel, through the power of the Spirit, to uproot our lesser loves. We need the Word of God, which is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). We need the power of prayer, wherein we abide in Christ and receive the benefits of our union with him. We need near constant reminders of Christ’s love set on us in eternity past, of his life lived for us, of his sacrifice made on our behalf.

As we identify and uproot idols in our hearts, we must also replace those idols with greater love for our Savior. If we don’t, in due time, we’ll simply exchange one idol for another. This requires a different kind of work, a work of gazing upon the infinite perfections, the gracious love, and the radiant glories of our Savior. It requires a more powerful affection than that for our idols; it requires a love born out of gratitude for all we have received. It will take an eternity to plumb the depths of Christ’s love for us. Perhaps that is why Paul prayed for the Ephesians that they would have “strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (3:18-19). May this be our prayer as well.

Just as weed and invasive plant removal is not a one-and-done thing, neither is the work of weeding the heart for idols. It’s a regular work. We are always on alert for and evaluating our hearts for lesser loves. The more we identify, repent, and turn from idols back to our first love, the more light and life will shine in our hearts. And the more fruit will thrive and grow.

For more on ways to evaluate the heart for those things we often look to for life and hope apart from Christ, click here.

The God Who Carries

One of the things I love most about writing— whether it be a blog post, an article, or a book— is the opportunity to zero in on a topic in Scripture. Sitting still with one subject for a period of time helps me grasp anew its depth and breadth. I see things I never noticed before. My faith is strengthened and I’m filled with wonder at the riches found in God’s word.

This was certainly true when I studied and prepared to write Idols of a Mother’s Heart. As I read and meditated on God’s word, I discovered just how much the Bible talks about idolatry. The narratives describe idolatry in the hearts of God’s people, the prophets speak out against it, and our Savior redeems us from it. Spending so much time focused on the topic opened my eyes to realize how quickly my own heart turns to lesser gods and that God alone gives me what I need and long for most.

Idolatry and Isaiah 46

Currently, I’m reading through Isaiah in my quiet time, a book in which the prophet repeatedly exhorts God’s people to turn from idolatry and back to God. When we read of their history, we see over and over how they turned from God to worship false gods. We see it in Exodus, when Moses was on the mountain to receive the law from God and they crafted an idol out of gold and worshiped it. We read accounts of king after king setting up altars to worship the gods of the nations around them. Then in Isaiah, God pronounced judgment against his people for their sin.

“For you have rejected your people, the house of Jacob, because they are full of things from the east and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of foreigners. Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots. Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made” (Isaiah 2:6-8).

In Isaiah 46, the prophet focuses in on the idols of Babylon. He describes them as helpless and weak. How foolish to trust in something that has no power!

“Bel bows down; Nebo stoops; their idols are on beasts and livestock; these things you carry are borne as burdens on weary beasts. They stoop; they bow down together; they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity” (Isaiah 46:1-2).

Bel, meaning Lord, is another name for the Babylonian god, Marduk. Nebo is his son. The Babylonians held a yearly celebration honoring both Marduk and Nebo, where animals would carry the gods in a great procession. Isaiah mocks these gods who cannot carry themselves and predicts the day when God would punish Babylon and her gods with her. The same gods in which Babylon trusted and worshiped would not be able to protect them from the wrath of God. As it turned out, Babylon did fall and her idols with her. No one worships Marduk today.

Isaiah continues and contrasts Israel’s God with that of the Babylonian gods. While Marduk and Nebo could not carry themselves and required beasts of burden to take them from place to place, our God carries us: “even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save” (v.4).

What amazing grace! We turn from the true God to worship counterfeit gods, yet he promises to save and carry us. The Hebrew word for carry (nasa) in that verse is also used to mean to bear, to lift up, to forgive. In Christ, we find a Savior who carries our griefs and burdens, our guilt and sin (Isaiah 53). He is the scapegoat who takes our curse upon himself and carries it away.

The God Who Carries Us

Isiah then answers the question: Who is this God who carries his people? He first points out that no one can be compared with God (v.5), because every other god is created by human hands (v.6). They must carry it on their shoulders and set it up in its place where it cannot move (v.7). And “If one cries to it, it does not answer or save him from his trouble” (v.7).

Oh, how I need this reminder! All those things I trust in to make my life work, to make my life safe and comfortable, all those things I look to in the hopes they will make life better—they cannot save me. They only exist because I construct them and then put them in place. They cannot hear me. They cannot meet my needs. They cannot fulfill my longings. They cannot deliver me.

They cannot carry me.

The prophet then calls us to remember who God is, to fix it in our minds, and imprint it on our hearts:

“For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose’” (vv.9-10). God alone rules over all things. He is the one true God and there is none like him. He determines all that will happen and ensures his purposes come to fruition. Everything we trust in, every idol we worship, all the places we look to for life and hope have no power. Our idols will fail us. Like Dagon in 1 Samuel, all the idols of our heart fall down flat in the presence of the true God who made all things.

As I consider the idols I have crafted and set up on the throne of my heart to worship, this passage in Isaiah 46 reminds me of their weakness and helplessness; it reminds me they are worthless. Only God can deliver me from my idolatrous heart. Only he can set me free from my wayward ways. “I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off, and my salvation will not delay; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory” (46:13). The coming of Christ fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy. Our Savior stills our restless hearts, meets our deepest longings, and carries us out of darkness and into the light of righteousness.

Father, these past few months have revealed idols in my heart I did not realize were there. I thank you for your word which shines a light in the dark places, revealing things I need to see. Help me to see more and more just how weak and helpless these counterfeit gods are. Help me to uproot them and cast them away. In contrast, help me to see you in all your wonder, power, holiness, and grace. By your grace, continue to carry me. In Jesus’s name, amen.

A Virus and the Idols of My Heart

C.S. Lewis once wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” The recent events brought on by the Coronavirus are shouting pretty loud, wouldn’t you say?

At least it is in my own heart.

Everyone has been impacted by this pandemic in a myriad of ways: lost jobs, cancelled plans, missed friends and family, and most notably a sickness that continues to grow and spread. Children who would otherwise be in school are now learning from home. Our movements are restricted to what is most necessary. Those who are sick wait for hours to find testing and treatment. And we don’t know when it will end.

Trials such as this shine a light in the dark recesses of our hearts, revealing what we cherish most. What we love above all. What we put our hope in. What we trust in. The god that we serve.

In my own heart, this pandemic highlights my idol of control. I’m a planner at heart. I enjoy making lists and crossing them off. Next to my computer lies a list of reservations I need to make for our long-awaited family trip to Europe in May. Our epic homeschool trip. The one where we were going to follow the Allied invasion and tour battle fields from WWII. The one where we would visit the Ten Boom house we’ve been reading about in The Hiding Place. We’ve had to cancel the trip and I can’t help but feel sad.

This situation points out to me how much I trust in my plans and worship them. I rest in those plans. I find hope in those plans. And with everything in my life now cancelled, I am reminded afresh of James’ admonition: “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that’” (James 4:13-15). 

James reminds us that we don’t control the future. God does. We don’t plan our lives. God does. He wrote the story of our days before time began. It’s already etched in the annals of time and nothing can change it. He determines the plan, we live it out.

I also see this idol when my heart bristles at losing the freedom of mobility. I am a homebody and love sitting at home reading a book or working on a writing project. I don’t need to be surrounded by people all the time. But I want to stay at home on my own terms. I want to be able to determine when I come and go. I don’t like the control taken from me.

This idol also reveals itself in my fears for the future. My husband just heard his pay was cut and we worry about his job security. I find myself looking ahead and wondering what will happen if things continue for a few more weeks. A few more months. Not knowing what the future holds makes me nervous. Worried. Anxious.

No doubt, a pandemic can highlight the idols of our heart. And for myself, I am thankful that it has. It’s easy to live life as though I am the ruler of my personal kingdom. It’s easy to go about my day trusting in my plans and relying on my bank account. It’s easy to live as though I have control over my days. It takes a situation like this to remind me what is true and to point me to the One who reigns over all things.

While I don’t have control, I know who does. The One who flung the stars across the sky and spoke this world into being holds all things in his hands. He is not surprised or caught off guard by anything. He knows the end from the beginning and governs all things, from the gravity that keeps me in my chair to the speck of dust dancing across my desk. This is the real and true God. Anything else I trust in is false and counterfeit. There is nothing and no one in this world who can rescue me from the curse of sin and death but God through his Son, Jesus Christ. The eternal Son of God came to live in this sin-sick world and live a perfect life in my place. He took my sin upon him and died the death I deserve. In doing so, he freed me from looking for hope in lesser things. He freed me from looking for life in anything else but him. He opened my eyes to see that nothing else I put my hope and trust in compares to him. He alone is my refuge and my deliverer.

This truth anchors me in the current chaos.

And so, as I sit enclosed in my house and wonder what the future holds, I have to turn from the idol of control and rest in the God who controls the world. He is a good God who only does what is good. I may not know what that good will be, but I trust in the God who does. For I know I am safe in his hands.

How about you? Are you learning anything about your heart during this time?

On Invasive Vines, Our Hearts, and Cautionary Tales

We once bought a foreclosure and renovated it. The house was a complete gut job, both inside and out. Its original 1980’s wallpaper covered nearly every room in the house. So we removed walls, stripped out cabinets, and redid all the flooring. The cedar shake roof was worn and covered in mold, so we replaced it with a metal roof. We bought new appliances, bathtubs, and even a new air conditioner.

Then we got to work outside.

It was difficult to tell from the street how big the yard was because an invasive tree had taken over the acre and a half lot, shading out all the other trees and bushes. Brazilian Pepper Trees are native to South America and have invaded much of southern Florida. They create an impenetrable canopy, blocking sunlight and harming native plants and trees. You can’t simply spray weed killer on them and expect them to die. They must be removed by hand. Needless to say, it took us a few years before they were eradicated from our property. And even then, we would periodically find evidence of the trees creeping and stretching their way across the yard again, and we’d have to once again do the hard work to remove them.

We now live in Georgia where another non-native plant, the Kudzu vine, blankets the roadsides. It too is just as invasive. When it’s out of control, all you see is the vine. It wraps itself around trees, power lines, and abandoned buildings, crisscrossing from one standing object to the next—like an intricate spider’s web.

There’s a lot of similarity to these invasive plants and the idols of our heart.

Like the Brazilian Pepper or the Kudzu vine, idols are an invasive species in our hearts; they don’t belong there. We were created to love and worship our Maker and Creator God alone; he is the true King of our hearts. He alone is worthy of all worship. He alone can rescue and save us. He alone gives our life meaning and purpose.

But because of the fall of man, our hearts are broken by sin. We don’t love God with all our heart. Instead, we turn to worship false gods. We look to substitute gods and give them honor and praise and worship rather than the One who made us. We turn to these idols to give our life meaning, hope, and purpose. We look to people, work, achievements, comforts, material things, and more to give us what only God can give.

These idols become like vines, taking deep root in our hearts. They grow and spread and stretch their way throughout our hearts as we turn to them time and again for help and rescue. They twist themselves around our heart, choking our love for God. They grow dense, blocking the Light of Life. Like a tree draped in Kudzu, we grow weak without the spiritual nourishment that comes when we abide in and cling to Christ alone. We find ourselves spiritually parched and our growth stagnant.

Like any invasive plant in our yard, idols don’t disappear when we ignore them or pretend they aren’t there. Or when we minimize their influence in our lives. They just continue to grow and spread. We must take drastic measures to remove them. We must rip them up by the roots. We must eradicate them. This is hard work and like the Pepper Trees in our yard, we need help from others. A team of friends came to our house and helped us remove the trees. Likewise, we can’t tackle our idols on our own; we need godly and wise friends who can help us identify the things in our life we worship apart from God. They can help us see how we’ve turned the good things God gives us into something we turn to for life and hope. And they can encourage us as we do the hard work, digging in, and ripping them out. 

The thing about idolatry is that eradicating it is a lifetime work. It’s something we have to tend to each day. Like a gardener looking after his garden, we have to look after our hearts. We must be on the lookout for idols and guard against any counterfeit loves. It’s easy to remove one idol only to replace it with another one. That’s why we must also plant a greater love for Christ in its place. We do this by focusing on who he is and what he has done. We do this by dwelling on the gospel and what it means for us to be saved by grace. We do this by abiding in Christ through our union with him. And the more our love for our Savior grows—the more we find in Christ our meaning, hope, identity, purpose, and life—the less we’ll turn to our idols and the weaker their grip on us will be.

The Bible is filled with agrarian analogies and it’s no wonder; there is much we can learn from observing this world God created. Perhaps there’s a good lesson learned from invasive species in our own backyard. May the destruction such species cause be a cautionary tale for the soil of our hearts.  

Moms, We Need Older Moms

In recent months, I’ve had the opportunity to do a few “book club” type events around my book, Idols of a Mother’s Heart. At these events, mother’s of all ages gather together to talk about the concepts in my book. I ask questions and the women respond and share with one another.

What I’ve loved most about these events is seeing the diversity in ages and stages of life. I love hearing women in their seventies talk about motherhood, while moms in their twenties and thirties listen in. I love hearing stories from people ahead and me and from those behind me and realizing that they are the same.

I love watching the admonitions in Titus 2 unfold before my eyes.

Too often in our churches, those in the season of early motherhood stick together with other young moms. That’s how it was for me. The other young moms and I in my church got together for weekly play dates. We met and prayed together. We shared our frustrations, questions, and heartaches of mothering together. And while there is nothing wrong with moms of similar age and stage gathering together for encouragement, and I highly encourage it, there’s also something missing.

What’s missing is older women. Older moms who have walked the road before us. Older moms who have wisdom and encouragement to share with younger moms.

Because things change so much in our culture over the decades, we assume that older women wouldn’t understand what it’s like to raise children in our time and season. We think that the challenges we face are too different than that faced in the past. Not only that, but technology, new scientific research, and simply the way we care for and raise our children changes with each generation. And while there is truth to that, there are aspects to motherhood that remain the same, no matter the generation or culture or technology.

Specifically, a mother’s heart.

No matter our age or stage of life as moms, we all are sinners. We all battle with idolatry in our heart. We all say and do things that defy God’s law and hurt others. We also all have doubts, fears, and sorrows. We all long for wisdom and discernment as we parent our children. We all want to do our best as mothers and glorify God in the process. And above all, we all need a Savior.

This is common ground upon which all mothers stand. This is the place where older and younger mothers meet. This is where older mothers can encourage and walk alongside younger moms. And where we can live out the Titus 2 command:

“Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled” (vv.3-6).

In recent years, I’ve asked older moms in the empty nest stage of life to share their experiences. I want to know what the terrain looks like ahead in the journey. I want to prepare my heart now for what’s to come. As I do, I learn from their experience and wisdom as they show me how the gospel applies to that specific season of life.

Moms, let’s make an effort to reach beyond our immediate circle of same age and stage moms. Let’s look to those ahead of us and seek their wisdom. Tell them what mothering is like in our current generation and the challenges we face. Listen and learn from their own stories of motherhood. And rejoice together in the good news of the gospel, that no matter our age and stage, we have a Savior who is wisdom and hope for us in motherhood.

Idols of the Heart: 12 Questions to Ask Yourself

When my kids were young, I had them do a craft project to teach them the concept of idolatry. I talked to them about how we try to fill our hearts with things we think will make us happy. As part of the craft, I had them lay down on a huge sheet of paper and I drew an outline of their body. I then drew a circle shape on the chest of the body. I gave them a pile of magazines and told them to find words and images of things people might love more than God. They were to cut out the images and glue them on the space on the paper. It was interesting what my kids instinctively recognized as idols. They found images of dollar bills, food, television, phones, and toys and glued them on the paper. I then had them decorate their ‘person’ however they wanted. They added hair, a face, and clothes. One of them drew on a hat.

But the thing that stood out to me most was the frown they added to the face, symbolizing that idols do not bring happiness.

My book, Idols of a Mother’s Heart, explores idolatry in our lives, particularly as it relates to motherhood. While we might all mentally assent to the fact that we worship idols in our lives, we don’t always know what those idols are. Sometimes, it’s easier to identify idols other people may worship than it is to identify our own. How do we know what idols we worship? How can we identify and name them?

In my book, I provide twelve questions we can ask ourselves. These questions give us the opportunity to explore our hearts and see what those things are we might turn to for life, hope, and meaning outside of Christ.

Twelve Questions to Help Identify Idols in the Heart

1. What do you spend your time on? The things we value and cherish most are what we dedicate our time to.

2. What do you spend your money on? What we invest our money in is often an indicator of what we love most.

3. What are your strongest emotions? (Such as fear or anger) We often respond with strong emotions when our idols are threatened or we can’t access our idols.

4. What controls you? Our idols often define and rule our days.

5. What do you fear losing? What we think we can’t live without is often an idol.

6. What do you trust in to make your life better? Idols often become our refuge, what we turn to for help and hope.

7. What are your ‘if-only’s? Fill in the blank: “If only _____ happened, then my life would be better.”

8. What sin or sins do you constantly battle? Whatever we worship, whatever we love more than God, we will sin to obtain it.

9. What areas of your life seem out of control? Often the places we attempt to control reveal idols.

10. What barriers do you face in your life, keeping you from what you want? God often puts up barriers to keep us from our idols, to bring us back to himself.

11. What do you expect out of life, from yourself, others, and God? Our should’s and ought-to’s often reveal idols in our heart.

12. What do you feel self-pity about? We often feel sorry for ourselves when we can’t get what we want, revealing idols in our heart.

Take time to consider your responses to these questions. Pray through them and ask the Spirit to open your eyes to see what you may love and worship apart from God. Talk about it with a trusted friend or mentor and pray together for the Lord’s work in your heart, to evict those idols and replace them with love for your Savior.