Our Strength is in the Lord

"Love the Lord your God, and serve Him with all your heart, and with all your soul."
                                                                                                                    Deuteronomy 11:13

When I was ten years old, I was living in Spain and there was a very popular doll named Nancy. She was the 1970s version of today's American Girl dolls. She came with different sets of clothing, shoes and furniture. I wanted that doll more than anything in the world. I must have been a good girl that year because the Three Kings left Nancy under the Christmas tree. Once I got her, I idolized her. I would take her with me everywhere. In my mind, she was real. When I moved to Miami two years later, I brought her with me. But Nancy was not popular in Miami. All the girls my age were into Barbie. It didn't take long for Nancy to lose its appeal. My new idols were Barbie and Ken.

It's very normal for children to fall in love with their new toys to the point that they idolize them. Unfortunately, many times as adults, we regress to our childish ways. We idolize our possessions. We idolize money. We idolize power. We idolize pleasure. We idolize sex. We idolize sports. We idolize our bodies. We create our own personal gods with the things of the world. We falsely believe that all these things are going to bring us happiness.

When things are going well in our life, when our bank accounts are full, when we are enjoying good health and we feel in top of the world, we have the tendency to turn our backs on God. Humans have an inclination to seek God only during difficult times. We don't need Him during prosperous times. Instead of using our blessings to give greater glory to God, we become complacent and we forget who is the source of all our happiness. The things of the world are like a magnet that attracts us, but the more we become attached to them, the more we distance ourselves from God.

When suffering comes knocking at our door, then we quickly remember God. It is during our most difficult times that we become humble and we realize that we cannot do this alone. It is when we are at the bottom of the pit, when our only option is to look up, that we cry out to God. Suffering turns into the best medicine for our spiritual dryness. It is through suffering that our spirits are healed. Suffering leads us to God. Once again we become faithful to God.

We have to remain faithful to God because our strength is in the Lord. Just like during childhood our old toys lost its appeal when replaced by a new toy, as adults the things that we idolize are only temporary. They don't bring us true happiness. True freedom and abundance can only be found in God.