I have mentioned that I am starting a Bible study for women. We will be studying Ephesians 6. As I have developed the first lesson I have realized that in getting to Ephesus Paul had to view an idol. This was the idol of Diana. This idol was worshiped by all of Ephesus and was considered a wonder of the world.

I have been searching my heart to see if I have any idols. I have a beautiful house but when I was in the Dominican Republic this summer I realized that I did not worship my house. I was fine living in a concrete house with no air conditioning.

I have a working car. It is not a Lexus or Mercedes Benz so I don’t get all bent out of shape if someone dings the side of it.

I have many friends but they do not cause me to stray from my path with God.

I have three beautiful children. I pray for them every day hoping that God will keep them safe. If anything would happen to even one of them it would be life altering. I don’t think they are an idol but I do know that my love for them goes very deep. I do not believe I worship them though.

So I was pretty content to think that I was good in the idol department. Yeah, that pride thing was starting to emerge.

Then this last Tuesday I was at another Bible study. We sit in small groups and have a discussion leader. I don’t really like this leader. She doesn’t invite a lot of discussion. She just goes on and on about her life. Sometimes it is a bit much.

Not only does she monopolize the conversation but she also keeps our group engaged longer than the other leaders because she thinks she has to pray over all of our prayer requests. So this Tuesday for half of the Bible study I was trying to develop an excuse ( better known as a blatant lie) as to how I could slip out when the other folks were leaving. It wasn’t that I really needed to leave. I had already set my appointments for the next day it is just that I am a bit of an impatient person and sitting in one place for two hours normally undoes me.

Then I realized I may have an idol. It is my impatience. I always think that the next thing that I have to do is more important than the thing I am doing currently. Makes it hard for me to achieve the peace and contentment of “being still and knowing that God is God.” So I settled down and actually was very blessed by the prayer she said over my request.

Idols may not always be things. It may be more what is distracting you from God’s purpose for your life. I am pretty sure that God’s purpose for my life on Tuesday night was to agree in prayer over all of the prayer requests before leaving and keep my restless heart still before God.