Here lately I have been down in the dumps. Down about our humble home, down about money, down about my family having to wear the same few outfits over and over again. Down about a lot of things.
Thankfully God heard my heart's cry, and ordained my next reading in "Crazy Love" to be about this very topic. Only, Francis Chan was not writing about my pity party and how to console these feelings; he was writing about how we need to trust God to take care of us with little. That we need to give God more, and trust that He is going to take care of our needs.
In Deuteronomy 15:10, God tells us to give liberally and to do so in an ungrudging manner. And I started thinking about how much I try to hoard what little we have, in hopes that we will actually have something, and every time I am disappointed when the cup runs dry. But I see where I went wrong. I was under the impression that my life is about gaining more things, gaining a bigger and nicer house that we actually own and not rent, being able to eat out at restaurants, having nice new clothes for every season, etc. But I am quickly seeing my fault. My life is not about THINGS. My life is about serving the One Who gave His life for all mankind. My life is about giving everything I have to His work. My life is about serving OTHERS, not myself. How can I serve others when all I am thinking about is how I can scrounge up enough money to buy a new outfit?? I can't!
My attitude has been completely altered by this society and the message it sends. According to society: Life is all about the "American Dream". Life is all about gaining success. But what is success, really? I am finding myself asking this question more and more.
Jesus teaches us the real success in life. All we have to do is seek Him, and He will reveal it to us. Do you dare to trust Him today, with everything you have?
Great post. It is hard realizing this in our society. We live 2 adults and 5 children in a 1200 square foot house. We've got three kids in one room and 2 in the other. In our society, we are told that each child needs their own room. After reading Crazy Love, I thought that there are those in other countries that have eight or more people living in a one room house or even a hut. Why do I need more? We don't. We don't need most of what we have in this country. It is realizing what we truly need and what we want. This I believe will be a struggle by living in America, but it's crazy that this is what our struggles are when there are those that live in fear of others with their belief in God.
ReplyDeleteThis is a lesson my heart is also being prepared for. Very soon, we will be down to one income and there are many sacrifices we will have to make. But, I know that God will be most pleased with me being 100% devoted to my home and family. Thanks for this reminder!
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