Fight the Drift

"When I fed them,

they were satisfied;

when they were satisfied,

they became proud;

then they forgot me."

Hosea 13:6

The lead character in the 2004 movie Napoleon Dynamite is a listless teenage boy living a strange and seemingly hopeless life with his adult brother, grandmother, and pet llama named Tina.  As meaningless as his life appears to be, it pales in comparison to his Uncle Rico's middle-age existence.  Rico lives in the past of his glory days as a high school athlete.  As he reaches the prime of his life, he has nothing to show for it except for a rusting camper-van and a brain-full of memories.  Rico is resting on his laurels, satisfied with what he was able to achieve in high school and failing to set any more goals for the rest of his life.

It is dangerously easy to take on this same kind of mindset in my walk with Jesus.  I may experience an especially close time with Him, or see Him work through me in an extraordinary way.  I ride the high of that encounter for a period of time, expecting more of the same.  When life settles into the dull, monotonous routine of a day to day existence, I begin to drift away from God, choosing instead to comfort myself with thoughts of days gone by when my faith was stronger, when God seemed so close and when I felt like I could do anything.

There is a definite progression away from God that begins with God working in a mighty way.  For the Israelites, it was being delivered from the bondage of slavery in Egypt.  Once they escaped the oppressive grip of the cruel Pharaoh, they began a period of 40 years of wandering in the desert so that God could help them to be humble and reliant on Him.  There was always the reminder to keep to God's ways and the warning that comfort would bring a tendency to drift away from Him.  

In order for modern day believers to fight against this propensity to drift away from God when the going gets easy, it is necessary to make a conscious effort to keep moving toward Him.  It is also important to understand the progression that takes place quietly and stealthily pushing me further and further from the God who loves me.   

Satisfaction

It is the American dream: earn a degree, land a great job, buy a nice car, get married, move into a beautiful house, start a family, work toward attaining all the marks of success like enjoying amazing vacations and living a full and satisfied life.

The problem with this scenario is that it is possessions-driven.  My happiness depends on my circumstances, my income level and the number of toys I own.  Trying to find contentment in my stuff or position in life always leads to unhappiness.  Or, as King Solomon said, "Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.  This too is meaningless."  (Ecclesiastes 5:10)

To fight against this tendency to find my worth and sense of achievement from physical things, I can focus on God and His plan for my life.  He made me for a purpose, has a plan for my life, and sometimes that plan may include difficult times.  

But putting my trust in God, allowing Him to choose for me means that I'll feel content to let Him guide me.  If He leads me down a path of financial success, then I'll feel content.  If, however, He takes me down a road of hardship and difficulty, I will feel equally content because I will say, "I can do everything through him who gives me strength."  (Philippians 4:13)

To guard against finding satisfaction in worldly success and wealth, it helps to instead focus on God's plan and how I fit into His kingdom.

Pride

The next step in the progression away from Jesus is in taking myself too seriously when things start going well.  I become comfortable in my life and I start to feel pretty capable and independent, able to take care of all my needs.

There was a king who reigned in Judah for 52 years.  He started off well, doing right in the eyes of the Lord.  Because of His faithfulness, God gave Him success.  "But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall.  He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense." (2 Chronicles 26:16)  Keeping in mind that only the priests were authorized to perform this act of worship, it is easy to see how far away Uzziah had drifted.  His pride made him think that he could do anything he wanted to do and that God's ways didn't really matter.

This sounds similar to what I often hear in today's culture.  "God can't expect us to stay sexually pure in this day and age. . . that's old-fashioned." "It's just a little white lie, everyone cheats on their taxes."  "My mom just doesn't understand me. . . I don't really have to do what she says because she doesn't have a clue."

I may not have reached the heights of King Uzziah in terms of power and wealth, but I do have lots of resources at my fingertips.  It's a short slide down to a pond where I have made myself out to be the biggest fish.  I think I can figure out the answers, solve all my problems and come up with a good plan for my life. If I don't want to end up like Uzziah who was struck with leprosy and consequently sentenced to a life of seclusion, I would be wise to fight against becoming too big for my britches. 

To guard against pride taking me even further from God and His ways, it helps to stay grounded by remembering His sovereignty and my own lack of control.  

Forgetfulness

I was talking to a couple of friends the other day about how my mind seem to be declining as I age.  I forget things I used to remember, like doctor's appointments and where I placed my keys.  As normal as this digression is, it is still a bit depressing to see a once good memory fade away.

Even though my tendency to forget about God is not the same, it does have the same way of sneaking up on me.   As Casting Crowns described in their song, Slow Fade,  "People never crumble in a day, it's a slow fade."  Listen to the song and think about how easy it is to compromise, how natural it feels to give yourself to away until one day you wake up and find yourself in a place you never wanted to be, and how fast your faith can crumble.  

No one really sets out to turn their back on God.  I have no intention of doing so, but I know I have an Enemy who would like nothing more for me.  As a result, I must constantly assess my priorities and ask who it is I go to for advice.  Who am I following?  Who am I trying to please?  The answers to these questions will give me an indication of who is my god.  Otherwise, I may slowly begin relying own strength and intellect, seek my sense of self-worth from another, or look to my source of happiness outside of His Kingdom.  It is then that I will find myself in a place where I never even think about God.

To guard against my natural tendency to drift away from God and toward a destructive lifestyle, I must fight against the slow fade and purposefully dedicate each moment to Him.

I could easily be just like Uncle Rico, living in the past and giving up the fight.  Instead, I want to glorify God with every waking moment.  In order to do this, it is important that my satisfaction come from God, that I ask God to continue to humble me so that He is exalted, and that I never take my eyes off my Savior.  I don't want God to look at my fruitless life and ask what I've been doing with my time.  Instead, I want to hear from Him, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"  (Matthew 25:21a)

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I will be able to fight against the drift.

In what areas do I easily drift away from God and His ways?

When do I tend to compromise, beginning a downward spiral that leads away from God?