Necessities

“Then he said to them, "Watch out and guard yourself from all types of greed, because one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." He then told them a parable: "The land of a certain rich man produced an abundant crop, so he thought to himself, 'What should I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' Then he said, 'I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to myself, "You have plenty of goods stored up for many years; relax, eat, drink, celebrate!" ' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded back from you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' So it is with the one who stores up riches for himself, but is not rich toward God." Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For there is more to life than food, and more to the body than clothing. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn, yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than the birds! And which of you by worrying can add an hour to his life? So if you cannot do such a very little thing as this, why do you worry about the rest?” (Luke 12:15-26 NET.)“It is not superfluities that support a man’s life, but necessaries.” Arthur Barnes notes, “What is necessary, God gives liberally; what is superfluous, He had not promised. Nor can a man’ s life be preserved by the abundance of his possessions.”

I used to think that if I had a nice home, good vehicle and a job that put a little money in the bank; to set against the storms that rage across the climate of this life…..I would be happy for I wouldn’t have to worry, wouldn’t have to stress about the peculiarities of this world. But such desire to have more and more, to have everything nicely wrapped up in a self-protective bubble of assurance is as temporary as the world is. And just as dangerous.

There are those within the community of Christ who are shaking their heads and saying that I am just ‘bad luck’ in the events that have happened recently in my life; the divorce, the moving to a small northern community and the recent events that have placed me in a most uncomfortable position. After all, these people say, we’ve stepped forward and helped him in recent times; there must be something he is doing that is sinful to God and therefore the punishment of God’s justice is upon him in an effort to bring him back into compliance with His commands.

Others tighten their grip upon the situations that they are in, fearing the coming of the new day and the worries that wait to beset them there. They would like to help out another; but there is the worry about the job, the financial portfolio and the new property development pledge that they have agreed upon for the church expansion. They would step forward….but.

Some have felt that my prayer request is just an manipulation to get myself out of a predicament that my actions, my poor stewardship of my finances and just my plain stupidity have gotten myself into and they feel that such a trial will only make me learn, abeit the hard way, to correct those problems that have put me into the situation to begin with.

Some have stepped out to aid a brother, giving what they can because they can, with no strings attached, no expectations given and with strong prayers of strength and focus. The funds aren’t the ‘prize’ of such as these, rather a simple physical representation of the stronger spiritual support which is freely given and realized for all who they know and those they don’t.

Which of these, you may ask, are the ones I most appreciate? All.

It is not the funds that I intended to garner that caused me to write the prayer request of the trial I face nor the ‘guilt’ factor to garner some support to get me the funds to repair my vehicle so that I don’t have to worry about the job, about the apartment, nor the host of other concerns that are in the frying pan because of the transmission failing.

Above all, I wanted prayer offered to God on my behalf; because prayer is the catalyst for all the other things. Funds, corrective action against sin, fear of our own situation and deception perceived. All the things that may or may not be the reaction to my original prayer request.

The funds received are not enough for the massive repair bill that is levied against the operation of my car, so I’ll bring it home. There are some who will say that such a luxury is not necessary; it is true that in this country we are millionaires compared to the rest of the world and a vehicle is just a visible sign of that prosperity. True.

The job that I am set to return to on January 5 is a good one, garnering me more funds than a lot of the world’s population has the ability to grasp and though I may not be returning to it on Monday, I have indeed been blessed with five years of prosperity in an industry that is on life support.

Many of the world’s population live in shacks; conditions that are unhealthy and unsanitary for even the lowliest of beasts to have to live in. My meager apartment has been a mansion compared to those. And if I lose this apartment because I cannot pay for it; I will be just another of this country’s population who have done so.
But, there is something that I have that a small percentage of the world’s population have; God’s provision and the recognition of it. Oh, I will do what I can to repair or get another vehicle, save my job, and keep my apartment. These things, God has given me to do. But the future, I know, is promised in the word of God and His provisions will be what is necessary for me to continue to do His work for the coming Kingdom.

Such things as shelter, mobility, and financial earning may be lost because of those events that have happened; such is the way of the world and its brokenness. But the one thing I don’t want to lose, and am assured that I will not, is God’s firm grasp upon my heart and soul and His promise to provide my necessities;

Peace, grace, and love…….

And the greatest of these is love.