I have been reminded twice this week to think about where my treasure is stored. I wonder what God is trying to say? I have a clue of course, I chase after fame, fortune and security, which of course are worldly things not God things.
I have worked very hard all my life and I think God has rewarded that work often. In the last year, I have been molded, crushed and threaded harshly. With all of that, I have been refined under fire and found myself new and different.
What's different? I have found courage in the face of fear. I have found God in my mountains and in my desert lands. I have found water through Christ that has renewed and refreshed and I have found Jesus in a much more intimate way. I'm learning that my priorities were all wrong and that when I pray I've prayed that women would be saved, that children would know Christ and that our husbands would become God's men but I haven't prayed the most important prayer which is, "Lord who do you want me to impact, lead me to the broken, help me serve them and not myself."
I have been in my life too much, which has gone through extreme terrain over the last couple of years. I have been up, down and all around. I have had to squash my pride, dig deep and read and pray daily. I have had to address my idols and see my deficits. And in all of it, I think I just figured out this week that my priorities have been way skewed. I had lost something very valuable that I knew as a young girl...undeniable dependence on God.
My treasures can be seen by people but they come with a cost. I have a beautiful house and plenty of food. I could pay all my bills without even thinking about them and my family from the outside looks pretty good. The world worships money, power, image and perfection. God treasures servanthood, sacrifice, fallen pride, weakness and dependence. Do you see the difference? It is stark in nature and yet, we all fall short. Paul knew this and so did John. John saw in Revelation that we would all fall short and that the only savior was Jesus. He was saddened that not even the people closest to Christ rose to the occasion and yet, through their failure, we have churches, evangelists, missionaries, ministries and faith, even 2000 years later.
So today as I read once again about treasures stored in Heaven I had an epiphany. That epiphany was God comes first when I have time. I'm like the rich people giving to the church large sums of money thinking how good I'm doing, when in reality the woman without a job giving her last two pennies knows more than me. She knows that money will not buy you what she has. What did she have you might ask? She had two things, God first and full dependence on Him. She had greater treasure than anyone of us because her treasure isn't here on earth, it truly is in Heaven! You see, I am no different than those Israelites making a golden calf at the foot of the mountain. I'm the same and more than likely so are you.
I am committing to put in my mind God first. Now life gets busy, that's part of the lie. We put chasing the world in front of what's real and true. Is my making money more important than the couple that has housed over 80 emergency foster care kids in the last two years? The answer is no. Is my working 12 hour days more important than the mother working two jobs to make the rent? The answer is no.
I have stored my treasures here on earth and what do I have to show for it you may ask. Not what's important. I want to store treasures in Heaven. I want to use what God has given me to His glory not mine. I want to spend time with Him first so that my direction is His and I want to re-prioritize my life by sitting back, asking His guidance and living for Heaven. I have been part of the world and I will have to work tirelessly to break that pattern. I will have to grow down. What do I mean by that? I mean I will have to get back to that child who yearned to go to church, who sat in the dark praying the Lord's Prayer and had complete dependence on a God she couldn't see. That little girl had a ton of treasure because she knew without a doubt that God came first. That woman has lost that child- like focus and it's my prayer that Jesus restores that sight back to me so that when I pray I ask what is most important to Him, not me.
I am off to an interview today where I may be given a job. I don't know the future or where God is going to place me. My prayer is that if I am blessed with a position I don't forget the most valuable lesson of the last 6 weeks, which is God first.
I love you my sisters and I am reaching out over the web asking you to commit to Jesus or re-commit to Jesus. He is the reason, He is our security, He is our Savior. Be a child for just a moment and let Jesus seep into that burdened, hardened, skeptical heart. Let Him remind you there is a beautiful place where treasures are stored, not on earth but in Heaven.
Be well!
Matthew 6:19-21 NIV
19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
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