“Teach this who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.” (2 Timothy 6:17 NLT)
Wealth can be a crutch that keeps us from leaning on God. The reality is, though, that wealth can vanish in a matter of moments, so it’s a very faulty frame for life support. Wealth isn’t our only crutch, though. We can also lean upon any number of precious hopes: position, relationship, appearances, favor, our education and wit, our upbringing, even our physical health.
If we aren’t aware, we can wind up putting complete trust in all the wrong places. Our precious hopes can be confused with ultimate hope. And when that happens, our loving God will wean us from the appetites that obscure Him.
Honestly, I can look back at the last six years and see evidence of my own weaning. First my health fell out, then with it, our family finances. When my mother passed away; an invisible axis slipped out of the center of my being and I had to learn to keep turning without her. We moved across the country, eyes still wet with grief, away from my strong support network of friendships; another precious hope pulled from underneath me. My last parent passed and with it, my pleasures and distractions fully submerged under the floodwaters of estate and caregiving. Last and not least, we left our congregation and community with lots of questions, most of them mine. With most of my precious hopes dashed, I completely leaned into the Lord like never before.
I recently finished reading ‘The Tattooist of Aschwitz’ and my heart is still reeling from the depravity of humanity displayed in a concentration camp. Long after the war ended, a couple the reader has been following since 1942 loses their livelihood and their home through a bad business deal. Their son comes home after school to find his mother packing suitcases and singing as she prepared to leave their life behind. The son was bewildered: “Momma, we are losing everything, how can you be singing?” The Auschwitz survivor looked up with bright eyes: “Son, when you’ve spent full years believing you could die in the next five minutes, you realize that when you have your health and your family you have enough.”
I haven’t been to Auschwitz and I certainly cannot relate to the horrors this woman had lived through, but I understand, at least a bit, a life weaned from casual and precious hopes and concentrated down to ultimate hope. The survivors of the Holocaust had a very clear picture of what was most important to them. My own weaning process (though far less traumatic) has produced an ultimate hope that cannot be stripped away by any means. The Lord has helped me see the very limited nature of my precious hopes, how any number of tragedies or selfish choices can interrupt or blot out their existence. But my hope in Him? Inextinguishable.
“We put our hope in the Lord. He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name. Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in You alone.” (Psalm 33:20-22 NLT)
Nobody appreciates weaning mid-process. I have a dear friend who has spent forty years raising pigs and every four weeks, it was time to wean again. It was hands-down, his least favorite week of each month. He hated it. The pigs hated it. As I understand it, the whole hog confinement was rather cranky during that week. But the result was greater maturity for the pigs. The ends justified the means.
I suspect our Father hates to send us through the weaning process, too. I suspect it’s just as miserable for Him as it is for us. But I also believe that He can see the big picture, that He knows just how vulnerable we are with unweaned appetites. And I suspect He loves us enough to long for us to grow up fully in Him.
My hope is built on nothing less,
Than Jesus Christ, my righteousness,
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus name.
Lord, help us put all our hope in You. When the wind blows and the rains come and the landscape of our life quakes, let us be left anchored to You, the immovable foundation of eternal life. Let our precious hopes lessen and our ultimate hope strengthen. Wean our souls from the appetites and affections that obstruct our absolute trust in You. Amen.