Abba, Father, I …

To understand this post, you must read it in the right context. That means you need to read parts one , two and three. Find them here. This is part four of the Blessed series.

Today’s topic will be strange to most people. It will be difficult especially to those who have lived in the “west” ( where there is generally plenty of stuff ) or have lived the “western” lifestyle. It will also be strange to those who may have not have had much stuff to begin with, but have now acquired the western mindset and forgotten where they came from.

I came to these conclusion after much thought, some revelation from on high, and a sincere look at my own experience.

Having nothing

First, let me state that no child of God can have nothing.

³²He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ( Romans 8:32 NIV)

But there is that state, where a child of God decides to have a little, the just-barely-enough, which in the eyes of the world, amounts to nothing. And having that nothing, not out of coercion or laziness, but out of choice, for reasons we shall shortly see. And, in having the nothing, to be still joyous and be pleasing the Lord, and not cause His name to be ill spoken of.

That is what i mean by nothing.

Why we went to the Lord

Many Christians communicate with the Lord, their Heavenly Father, the way infants and little children communicate with their parents: on need to have basis.

An infant demands the attention of its parents when it’s needs are not met. They will give you no peace, till they have had it “their way”. Once they have what they need, they will generally leave you alone and be preoccupied with  themselves. Until they have the next need.

Toddlers are much better. There are times they seek you for your own sake. But they also do fall into the want mode once in a while. But their demands are mainly motivated by what they see out there: what Luke has, or what “the girl in my class” has, or what Hannah Montana is wearing, or what the Disney Channel has just advertised on TV ( and boy, do they fill the TV with adverts! I pity the little kids, they do not stand a chance ), or that toy or pair of shoes that is displayed on the store shelf.

A truly balanced grown up ( say your spouse) would seek communication with another grown-up because of the existing relationship between them. ( A balanced grown-up, i say. I know there are many baby grown-ups out there who seek others to please them.)

Are you better than the kids? Be honest and take an inventory of the times that you sincerely seek out the Lord in prayer. When do you pray? What was it that you wanted?

But, He is our Father?

Yes. So it is alright o approach Him thus:

³²He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ( Romans 8:32 NIV)

After all He said “ask…”.

While as a child it is okay to only seek the Lord when you have need, material need, as you grow up, that selfish reason should be reducing. It would be great when you are all grown up so that you can seek the Lord out, not for the sole purpose of getting something from Him, but so that you can just spend time with Him.

Huh?

Okay, if you do not get that, let us not dwell on it. Let us leave it at that.

As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God.

2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God? (Psalm 42:1,2)

Now, going to the Lord to have our needs met is actually not necessarily a bad thing. Why? Because, at least, we go to Him. And, believe me, spending time with Him, no matter the motive, is never a waste of time.

And there was much stuff in that nation

It should not be difficult to see then, that, if  men and women are provided with much stuff,  they will have less and less reasons to go talk to the Lord.

Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the LORD ?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God. (Proverbs 30:9)

I am persuaded that many many Christians in the west have reached that point, where they have nothing to discuss with the Lord.

I was raised in a small rural town in Kenya. Most of the Christians i knew did not have a lot of stuff. They were what you would call “dirt poor”. When they needed help, where did they go? To the Lord, of course. And this practice of going to the Lord persisted with many of us all the way to our college days when we had a “little” “boom” allowance.

If you are dirt poor, you have no bank account. You have no disposable income. If you had no money and needed a new shirt, there was no store to walk into and swipe a Visa card. For us, new shirts were Christmas gift items. Purchasing big ticket items such as an automobile was out of the question. If you needed to purchase something big, you went to the Lord and prayed, like crazy. And proved that you really needed it.

When you are dirt poor, you have no health insurance. If you fell ill, you prayed yourself back to health. You had no choice but to believe in healing. Food was not a plenty, and fasting was not as difficult.And there were no food banks, or food stamps.

When you are dirt poor, you no have retirement portfolio or college funds for kids or social security. When the event occurred, you went to the Lord then, and prayed for help. ( Some wise person must be thinking, “that is total lack of wisdom! Lack of planing” Really, my friend? I actually do not know a single honest and sincere Christian whom the Lord turned down. Nor one who ended up living in poverty, begging for bread. )

Coming to America

Fast forward. In America  ( or in the west or the new super-middle class in Kenya.)

Modernization and stuff has just made life too wonderful.

You do not  like your “old car”? Why, just visit the dealership, sign and drive off with a brand new vehicle. Sick? Make an appointment with your Physician. In pain? Walk by the drug store and pick up some wonderful pain killers. Stains on the new shirt? Throw it away, get a new one. Hungry? The fridge has no shortage of choice meats.

Bored? There is a TV in almost every room, with 1000 channels. And there is no shortage of comedians at the King’s courts waiting to amuse. Or plug in the ipod to your ears. Long weekend coming up? Fly or take a long road trip and visit friends in another state.

We now live better than the kings of old.

Where does the Lord feature in all these? Duh, nowhere.

Except perhaps for a token 1 hour Sunday entertainment service where the “man of God” is too afraid to step on our tender toes.

Do you see what stuff, what having lots of stuff has done to us?

I suppose you are beginning to see why it is so difficult to excite people in the west about the things of the Lord.

It just does not make sense to them!

Why would they need Him, when they have the amenities of heaven, right here on earth?

Do you see why it may be blessed to have nothing?

Prosper if you must..

Am i against prosperity? Heck no.

Absolutely not. I would love 18-bedroom mansion on a 300-acre ranch. I would love a twitter ready 1000HP muscle car in my garage. I would love to have my own Leer jet airplane.

No. Hopefully my previous posts will show that i am not against prosperity. Prosperity scares me though.

I am just warning myself about what stuff has done to Christians, lest i walk the same path they have walked. I am warning myself that there is a deep price to pay for all the stuff. Nothing is free.

But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness,
And tested God in the desert.
¹⁵ And He gave them their request,
But sent leanness into their soul. ( Psalm 106: 14,15 KNJV)

And i am asking you, that even as you enjoy this time of plenty, that you consider the life of the early church, those who walked with Christ, talked to Him  “face to face, as a man to his friend“,  how that they chose to not have lots of stuff.

Surely they too had the Holy Spirit.