Worldly Tokens

I titled this blog “Worldly Tokens” So, just to make sure we are all on the same page, tokens are the coins that you get at arcades, carnivals, and amusement parks that you can only spend at those particular places and are worthless any other place, right?

Ok so, what do I mean by “Worldly Tokens”? Well, let me back track a moment. I have been hearing, reading and thinking a lot about “Faith” and “Trust” in God lately. Sometimes I hear about miraculous healings from God and then at other times I hear people lamenting and crying out to God to heal painful and debilitating infirmities with no apparent answer. I see God do amazing things financially in some people’s lives while in others I see poverty and financial heartbreak. I see people who are full of happiness and joy when their world is falling apart all around them and then others who are angry and depressed because they didn't get to go on a trip or a cruise this year. All of these people say they have “faith” and are “believing for” and “trusting in” God for these things, because, that is all we need to do to get them… right? Just have faith as big as a mustard seed and believe that He can do these things and they will be done for you… right? So, why is it that we don’t see this in everyone’s lives? Why do some get healing and some don’t? Why are some people financially blessed more than others? Bear with me here and I will get back to the token things…

So, after we don’t get what we prayed and had faith for, we typically walk away with one of two conclusions (or sometimes both). First, that God is not who He says He is, not as big and powerful as we thought He was and ultimately can’t do what He promised.  Or, WE are not lovable and are broken in some way, undeserving, unworthy or too sinful for God to bestow upon us the things we have so diligently prayed and had faith for... these requests that seem like very “good” and “worthy” causes.

Ok, so this is my thought. What if we are trying to redeem “worldly” tokens from an “eternal” God? Let me explain a little better. What are the promises (or tokens) of the world? I think we can narrow them down to three main things which are, that you can be “Healthy, Wealthy and Happy”, right? All of the world’s focus is on beauty and health, having it YOUR way, and if you want it, you deserve it (wealth, fame and material things, men/women) so just strive for it and you will get it, and you will “live happily ever after”!! These are the messages we have heard since we were old enough to read and watch TV and they have been ingrained in us since we can remember. So, why wouldn’t we expect God to give us these good and worthy things? A “loving God” would want these things for us too, right? This is what I mean by trying to redeem worldly tokens with an eternal God. I am beginning to understand more and more that it doesn’t work the way we think it will because the world’s currency isn’t worth anything in God’s Kingdom. We keep handing Him these tokens and expecting him to redeem them but, He does not see the eternal value in them, they are worthless to Him. We also look at scripture through worldly filters, and try to make them fit the worldly promises and miss/dismiss all the ones that tell us of HIS promises and what He desires from/for us and what we can expect of Him. Yes, of this I am very guilty!

But I am seeing things a little differently now. It is not that God CAN’T do these things, or that we are not good enough or worthy of them, but that HIS values are ETERNAL and not temporal. He sees with different eyes and focuses on the blessings that will last for eternity. Yes, at times He will heal us and financially bless us, but MORE importantly, He focuses on things that will build our relationship with HIM. He created us for that very relationship. HE wants to be our “treasure” and the desire of our heart (Luke 12:34), He wants to be the pearl of great worth that we sell everything to buy (Matthew 13:46) and for us to love Him with ALL our heart, mind, soul and strength (Deuteronomy 10:12, 11:13, 13:3, 30:6, Matthew 22:37, Luke 10:27). He wants there to be NO OTHER God in our lives but HIM (Matthew 19:21, Luke 14:26, Matthew 10:37). He is jealous of anything we devote ourselves to more than Him because He knows that they will only hurt us and lead us astray. He is the only One that can fill our deepest needs because HE is the one who created us, loves us, knows us and died for us (Psalms 139). If you just read over that last sentence quickly, I encourage you to go back and read it again… slowly this time and think about each thing. “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11) We just need to understand what His definition of “good” is!

So, what are God’s promises and what does He want from us? Stop. I bet some of you did the same thing I did. Excitedly looking for a list of things to do thinking that if we could just “do” something, He will “give” us what we want…like a vending machine or some formula for giving us what we ask for. We like those “to do” lists don’t we!?  Believe it or not, what He wants is very simple… but maybe not so easy to do. He asks that we just seek Him first with all of our hearts (Matthew 6:33), fix our eyes on Him (Hebrews 12:2) and abide in Him so that He will abide in us (John 15) and when we do, I mean really do these things and make Him first in our lives, we will be BLOWN away by His amazing love, faithfulness and eternal blessings that the worldly promises will pale in comparison and nothing else will matter to us. He promises Love, Peace and Joy in the midst of all the trials and uncertainties of this world because we KNOW that He is Emanuel, God with us. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”(John 16:33). “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.”(1 Peter 4:12-13) “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5). The Bible is FULL of scriptures that counter the world’s promises we just have to remove the filters and objectives and open our eyes and SEE them. He doesn't promise wealth but warns against the love of money, He doesn't promise health but says “by my stripes you have been healed” eternally!! His suffering was primarily to pay for our salvation and to restore our relationship with Him, not “temporal” healing. He doesn't promise “happiness” but joy and peace no matter what our circumstances are (Philippians 4:12).

Think about this; if we were all healthy, wealthy and happy, would we need him? I think not! We would be all self sufficient and would no longer cry out to Him for help because there would be no difficulties in life, nor would we even desire a relationship with Him. Can God give us wealth, health and happiness? Yes, of course He can but He longs for us to desire Him, and know and love HIM for eternity and not the temporal things of this world. Are you willing to trade in your worldly tokens for eternal ones?

Lord, I would like to exchange my “worldly tokens” for Your “eternal” ones. Help me to have faith and trust Your eternal perspective in all area’s of my life. Help me to see how much you love me even in my most difficult moments, trials and suffering. Help me to have faith in YOU and not in what you can do for me.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

(James 1:2-4)