Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Depending on Limited Resources
What sin do you suppose God addresses most frequently in the Bible? There are many sins we could name, but some people claim that the one sin most frequently condemned in the Bible is idolatry. Now, we can either think this is because the Bible was given at a time when people made idols, so idolatry was something on God’s mind, or we can assume that this is just a sin that is common to all people from all generations. There are many ways of committing this sin, and we don’t have to have an idol of gold or stone in order to displace God with some other source of power, strength, or focus for our dependence.
So what is idolatry? Idolatry is depending on limited resources. Isaiah 31:1 says, “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help…they look not unto the Holy One of Israel! Verse 3 says, “The Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit.” God said, “You are depending on Egypt when you should be depending on Me.” There is a stark contrast between all that God is and all that we miss by choosing some other focus for our dependence.
Do you do that? I doubt that you have an idol set up in your house, but are there things like money, friends, or plans without God upon which you are depending? Let me give you two points of contrast between God and limited resources.
First, God knows the future. He is in control of time, and that is in contrast with anything else on which we might depend. Isaiah 41:7 says, “So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.” The Bible is talking about an idol that is made by man at a point in time. No god that you can make is worthy of the name. These are in stark contrast: a god that is created at a point in time with the God who knows the very future.
Second, God is in control of space, meaning a place. Verse 7 says that an idol had to be nailed down so that it wouldn’t fall over. In contrast, God is the omnipresent God Who is with you when you need Him. Verse 10 says, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will help thee.” Where is God? He is with you. An idol is stuck in time and stuck in space; God is hampered by neither.
God inhabits all time and eternity. He is the transcendent God Who is worthy of your trust today. Idolatry is depending on limited resources. We can thank God for money, friends, and plans, but we need to remember that these things are nothing if God does not rule our lives.