Nothing is Mine

Aaron and I just began a book entitled "Your Money Counts" by Howard Dayton, and there is most definitely some good stuff to chew on! We are reading it as homework preparation for the Crown Financial Bible Study that begins in three weeks, which we are greatly anticipating! There is a section in the chapter we read that was a great reminder...if we truly think like this every day, then we surely will be content when things don't go the way we plan with our possessions.

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The First Step Toward Contentment

To learn to be conent, you must recognize God as the owner of all your possessions. If you believe you own even a single possession, then the circumstances affecting that possession will be reflected in your attitude. If something favoable happens to that possession, then you will be happy. But if something bad occurs, then you will be discontented.

After Jim Sennef went through the exercise of transferring ownership of everything he possessed to God, he bought a new car. It was just two days old when a young person drove into the side of it. Jim's first reaction was, "Well, God, I don't know why you want a dent in the side of Your new car, but you certainly have a big one!" Similarly, when John Wesley learned that his home had been destroyed by fire, he exclaimed, "The Lord's house burned, One less responsibility for me!"

Yet it is not so easy to maintain this perspective consistently, It is far too easy to think that the possessions we have and the money we earn are entirely the result of our skills and achievements. We find it difficult not to believe we have earned the right to their ownership. I am the master of my fate, the humanist says. I alone own my possessions. Obviously, this view of owndership is the precailing one in our culture.

Giving up ownership is not easy, nor is it a once-and-for-all transaction. We constantly need to be reminded that God owns all our possessions.

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If we truly had this mindset, can you imagine how much anger we could be preventing?? How often during the week do we get upset because something has gone wrong with one of our possessions, or we don't have certain possessions we would like? To go even further, it makes me think of the fact that God even "owns" my time...well, I mean he is in control of it. So even when I don't get anything on my "to-do list" done because my daughter has a rough day, I can rejoice in what the Lord has given me to do (taking care of her), or I can become angry and frustrated that my husband has to come home to an exhausted wife and a cluttered home. (Yes, that was a struggle for me this week.

So basically...nothing is mine...it is all the Lord's. In the world's eyes, that may seem crazy, but in the eyes of a redeemed child, it is cause for rejoicing!

"Everything in the heavens and earth is yours, O Lord, and this is Your kingdom. We adore you as being in control of everything. Riches and honor come from You alone, and You are the Ruler of all mankind; Your hand controls power and might, and it is at Your discretion that men are made greatand given strength."

~Kind David, I Chronicles 29:11-12~