When I hear the phrase “highly blessed,” often my mind goes to the fact that so many of us in the United States are blessed financially and/or by material possessions, at least to some degree. Because of these “blessings,” sometimes we lose sight of other things that are more important. Which begs the question: are we enslaved by our stuff?
Whenever I go on mission trips, I come across people of other cultures who have so little yet have so much joy. In Peru where our ministry is based, it is no different. We meet people who are willing to give out of their poverty to be a blessing to us, because after all, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). We come across the poorest of the poor who offer us food out of their little because they are so happy and grateful for the ministry we provide. Are we as grateful for the Lord’s blessings in our lives, such that we give out of our abundance?
For the past eight months, I have been doing a book study with a group of ladies at my church. The book is called “Habits of Grace” by David Mathis. The book takes a look at three basic spiritual principles that often define our faith with the grace of God: listening to His voice, speaking to Him in prayer, and joining together with His people as the church. I highly recommend the book to those who need more discipline in these areas.
This week we discussed chapter 20, “The Dollar,” which reflects on giving as another spiritual principle by which we experience God’s grace. A friend in the study brought up the experience she knew I had had when God called us to move to Peru. God told us to sell almost all the stuff we had so we could move there for an unknown period of time. This was no easy calling, as you can imagine. I didn’t wake up one day and think, “I don’t need all this stuff” and then just give it all away. My heart was very hard, since at first I told God “no way!” Then after three sleepless nights where God woke me up each night to speak to me, my heart began to soften until I realized that this was, indeed, God’s voice and God’s true call on our lives.
The calling to sell all our stuff was a journey that I embarked on reluctantly, but I did submit my heart to Him and understand that just about everything must go. We boxed up a few personal items to put in Alex’s mom’s attic, but other than that, we were to go free from baggage, both spiritual and physical, that might impede our call. I remember my perspective begin to change whenever I entered a store. Just as John the Baptist said of Jesus—“He must increase, I must decrease” (John 3:30)—so too did our stuff have to become less as our calling became greater. Each time I would come upon something I wanted, I had to remind myself that our job was to do the opposite of what my nature was telling me to do, what the “American Dream” is all about, to find a true freedom from wanting things in order to want God more.
God was merciful to me on that journey. We slowly watched our stuff get sold or given away, only to come down to one yard sale where the rest had to go. But thankfully by God’s grace, I had mono on that day and could not even set foot outside my door, let alone work a yard sale. Alex had to watch it all walk away without my emotional support, but he was certainly strengthened by God to do the job.
Mathis quotes Rebecca DeYoung in his book as saying:
The point is not to live on crusts of bread with bare walls and threadbare clothes. The point is that a fully human life is lived in a way free from being enslaved to our stuff. Our possessions are meant to serve our needs and our humanness, rather than our lives being centered around service to our possessions and our desires for them. (p.208)
It was a hard lesson to learn, but we had to remove all of our “stuff” to get a clear picture of God and His will for our lives at that time. Since we moved back to States from Peru, however, we have again accumulated a great deal of stuff, including a house full of material possessions, along with three kids and all their stuff! While we are obviously in a different stage of life now, I think this week God again is speaking to me about putting Him first above my possessions. While I consciously do not decorate my house in dust-collectors or other fanfare, still we have fallen back into bad habits, following those inner voices that say “I want this” or “I need that.” I have to ask myself again, am I enslaved to my stuff?
The Art of Choosing True Life 