Faith

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Dismantling the Groves

In the Old Testament, idols always had their groves, trees whose root systems fed doctrines of unbelief. These groves were places of hidden idolatry, much as when Adam and Eve tried to cover up their sin with fig leaves. Can you see an idol when it is covered up by trees? God can!

God's Word tells us that we are saved by faith. That faith, when planted, is like a mustard seed, growing into the sort of tree in which the birds of the air can nest. This tree shields us from the storms of life, repelling the lightning of God's wrath.

A grove, on the other hand, provides no safety for idolators. In fact, you could get electrocuted beneath it, for God's lightning bolts are attracted to the idol hiding among the leaves. The stronger the material from which the idol is made (think "heavy metal"), the stronger the attraction. God seeks to demolish the idol, as well as the grove of excuses beneath which we seek to hide it. Once that idol falls, watch out! It might just hit you!

The time is now, my brothers and sister in Christ, to destroy those idols and dismantle that grove. It isn't an easy task, but we must take up God's Word and pour it out - not as a libation to an idol, but as water to dissolve it. We must also ask God to show us what sort of false doctrines our grove is made of. Then we must attack those trees unmercifully.

We start with the branches, those surface things that are most obvious (often more so to others than to ourselves). Here we may need to cut off those relationships, habits, or material possessions that serve as stumbling blocks leading to sin.

Next we proceed to the trunk which has been supporting the unbelief system. This is perhaps where our fellow Christians can be the most helpful, loving us, encouraging us, exhorting us, and giving us that gentle "push" to keep going until that trunk is chopped down. Restitution may be involved here, as well as reconciliation. Deliverance (casting out of devils) may also play a part. (Don't be surprised if the people around you get scared and run when they see the dramatic change in your life. They may be afraid that the tree will fall on them!)

After attacking the trunk, we go for the roots, those deep-seated sources of unbelief that keep us from moving forward in our faith. Here is where the Holy Spirit will expose hidden sources of sin and causes of calamity (such as generational curses, longstanding hurts, or undetected bitterness in the heart). These things may be painful to face, but if we will allow God to uproot them, He will bring healing to every hurt.

And all this time, while we are cooperating with the Holy Spirit to destroy that grove, God is causing our faith to grow in ways we cannot imagine. Instead of a grove and an idol, we will have a flourishing tree of faith openly visible to those around us. This glorifies God - not because we did the work, but because we dared to let God remove the sin and unbelief that was preventing us from becoming the mature believers He always intended for us to be.

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