Two things I ask

What’s it like to truly ‘live in the moment’? What’s it like to depend on God for every mouthful, every drink, every night of sheltered sleep? What’s it like to constantly depend on God for food and shelter? What’s it like to be needy? Some of us are 'blessed' enough that we've never personally known the answers to these questions.

“Two things I ask of you: deny them not to me before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God” Proverbs 30:7-9.

This passage goes against every middle class value I’ve ever been taught. Well, I take it back. It by no means contradicts my acquired values, it merely emphasizes principles that I would never wish upon myself if I were being totally honest. I’m sorry God; did you say possibly no savings account? Did you really mean maybe no ownership of a house, ever? Did you mean it that I might not ever feel full when I’m eating and I may not know where or when my next meal may occur? Did you mean it that I can’t sometimes plan for the future or even know what tomorrow might bring for me?

Seriously now, this is my life we’re talking about. I’ve got to have some plan, some system, some routine. I’ve got to. I’ve always had it. I like my neat little life, my savings, my 5-year plan, making more money than I need, eating more than I should, exercising less than I should, sleeping a lot, getting my way, feeling safe and secure. I like my neat little tidy life. I don’t love some things, some big things, but I like knowing my future is set and my financial life is secure. I’d like to make way more money actually, who wouldn’t? God, are you telling me that all these things might be harmful to me instead of good like I’ve always seen them?

Things in themselves are for the most part not bad or evil. They are inanimate and therefore do not hold a specific bad purpose on purpose. But when we allow them to dictate our lives, when we begin to see them before we see God, when we begin to use them as crutches, as security, as any place that the Lord is meant to fill, then they become harmful and destructive to us. God often shows us just how unnecessary they are for our eternal survival; Heaven knows He’s done it to thousands in this current recession. Poof, 401k gone. Stock, see ya, bye. Job, business-budget cut and that someone that had to go was you. 10-year plan out the window. The idea of even going out to dinner becomes unimaginable for many right now. But here’s the interesting thing and the point: It’s not a sign of failure to have all these earthly possessions drained from you.  On the contrary, we might even should ask for it. That’s right, I said it. If anything is keeping us from utter dependence on God, anything that makes us even for a moment forget the Lordship of God then it is making us full- it’s filling a place that only God is meant to fill and it needs to be revamped. It may not need to be cut out, but it needs to be altered

Let me put these verses in context for a second. This is Solomon who wrote this- the most, or filling one of the top slots at least, wealthy person that will EVER live. I wonder what it would be like to live like Solomon is describing. If he of all people is making a comment such as this then surely all of the rest of us should listen. If someone so wealthy, so put together, someone who has anything he could possibly want in the whole world is saying that he’d rather live moment to moment and have God provide everything, then maybe we should listen up. Maybe we should trust God’s provisions a lot more and love the world’s a lot less. I wonder what it would look like to truly realize that money is just paper and we should use enough to survive and be willing to give the rest away? Solomon got it, when will the rest of us catch the boat? Lord, don’t even make me full, lest I forget you. This is a man that knows his limitations and made provisions with God against them- What are you doing about yours?