I guess one thing that comes from spending five years wondering around the desert, well Memphis, is that you carry very little with you. Much of what we have collected these past forty years has been packed away in boxes the past five years. Some is stored at a friend’s, some in a POD, later moved to a storage unit, and at the present in the garage and the extra room where we are renting.
When we sold our house I didn’t want to sell my things, thinking it wouldn’t be long until we once again had our own home. With each year and each move, I began to slowly release my things; well at least I wanted to think that I had released them! But, every time Mark mentioned giving my things away, I found a reason to hold onto them. At one point along this journey, he suggested that we sell my things and give the money away. Not my things!
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys.” Luke 12:32-33
Over these five years, we’ve tried several times to purchase a home just to have all the doors close! God was saying, “Wait.” So we waited! Last fall we had the opportunity to purchase a lot with money given us as a gift. The time seemed right and God was saying, “Now.” We found a builder and began the process of building a new home that would fit Mark’s physical needs and one that was close to church, friends, and convenient for ministry. As I’ve looked ahead to our move, knowing I would be reunited with my things, I have found myself caring less and less about seeing them. I can’t even remember what I had, and I certainly don’t know which box many of my things are in.
This past week, a friend helped me gather all my things that were stored for five years under her beds and in her closets and attic in order to sell or give away many of them. It was embarrassing all the beautiful things I’d collected, and to think that what was at her house was only a portion of my things! The boxes have yet to be unpacked! As I carried one oil painting after another, one picture after another, one rug after another, and one silk arrangement after another, I was thinking about all the time, effort, money, I had spent on all these things. My conclusion was that things had been way too important to me! I’d spent too much of my husband’s hard earned money and too much time collecting these things. I had placed too much importance on building my nest. If only I had given more and used the money to help others. If only I had been content. If only I had not been concerned with what other people thought.
God has removed my desire for more things and replaced it with a desire to live simply. He has removed my focus onthings and given me a desire to focus on Him. This weekend I entered a store I had frequented in years past, before this journey. I was given a gift card and wanted to find something. As I walked around and around and around, I found it difficult to decide on what to purchase. I’ve always loved this store; in fact for years when I’d receive a coupon in the mail, I felt obligated to go and purchase something – after all they had sent me a coupon! Here I was with $50 and a store filled with beautiful things, yet I found it difficult to purchase anything. I was feeling that I really didn’t need anything.
As a result of this journey, this road on which God has changed my heart, I find that I now truly desire more of Him and less of the things this world has to offer. In Luke 12, Jesus has a word for those who store up for themselves an abundance of things:
“ Then He said to them, ‘Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.’ And He told them a parable, saying, ‘The land of a rich man was very productive.’ And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain andmy goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
“And He said to His disciples, ‘For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span? If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith! And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.'” Luke 12:13-34
“God is glorified when we adopt His giving nature.” Rev. Larry Ray
Father, oh that my heart would be a giving heart, one that pleases You. Help me to always be a seeker after Your kingdom. Thank you that You have truly fed us, clothed us, and revealed to us the magnitude of your ability to provide for us, Your children. Move my heart to give when giving is needed, to love when love is desired, and to encourage when encouragement is needed to lift up another. May you always be the focus of my life. May You and You alone be my most important possession. May I have an unfailing treasure in heaven!
dianne