“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.” Ps.115:1

Tripp:

I will never turn any created thing into my personal messiah. There is one true Messiah, and life can be found only in Him.

Like most people (maybe all people?), I struggle with creation vs Creator. I elevate the creation over the Creator. As Tripp has said numerous times throughout the year, I like to look horizontally instead of vertically for satisfaction. I have a “me” complex. It’s all about me. “I want.” “I want.” “I want.” As Tripp says elsewhere: “Sacrifices, I don’t want to have to make sacrifices.” (A Shelter in the Time of Storm-p.82). Like Esau who despised his birthright for a pot of stew, so I turn my head or a blind eye to that which really matters. And I settle for cheap substitutes.

Creation never was and never will satisfy the longing deep in my soul. As the psalmist says (multiple times): “Trust in the Lord! He is my help and my shield.” (115:9-11)

“Father, sometimes I think I sound like a broken record when i says, ‘I know I’m guilty but please keep me from second rate messiahs. You are the way, the truth and the life so there is no need to look elsewhere. You are the way (the path of life); the truth (the standard by which I am to live); the life (purpose and meaning and fulfillment). Why should I seek to go anywhere else? Be my all in all. Be my help and my shield.”