Luke 12- Are We Hoarding or Providing?

Luke 12:15 says "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." That is exactly one of the things that I feel like God has been telling me lately, through this study and in so many other ways as well. My life does not consist in the abundance of my possessions; there is more to life than money and stuff. Then Jesus tells about a rich man whose farm produced more food than he had room for. So what did he decide to do? Build even bigger barns so he could store up the food for himself. What he didn't know was that his life was about to end, and keeping those things for himself did no one any good.

And that is something that's been on my mind a lot lately- if I have extra stuff, why on earth should I keep it stored up for myself? Why not keep what I need and give the extra away to help people who don't have what they need? For the past few weeks, we have been going through a lot of our stuff and deciding how much we actually need- things like clothes, towels, blankets, dishes. A lot of that extra stuff that we don't need is about to be donated to various organizations so they can go to people who actually do need them. Sure, we won't have an "abundance of possessions" anymore, but isn't there more to life than that? I think there is.

The passage about the rich man storing up his food seems to go along with the next passage, where Jesus tells his disciples not to be anxious about things like food and clothing. He tells them that God knows what they need and he will provide; they should be more concerned about seeking God's kingdom and living the way he's telling them to live. Instead of hoarding extra for themselves, they could sell those things and give the money to the needy. And he reminds them not to treasure and put their hearts into things, but to treasure and put their hearts into God and other people. That is life.

To be honest, telling someone who has a diagnosed anxiety disorder (like me) to not be anxious and expecting those words to solve the problem is like telling a nicotine addict not to smoke and expecting that advice to solve the problem. No, I am not comparing anxiety disorders to addictions- I'm just saying that in both situations, hearing those words sounds laughable. "Don't be anxious? You're kidding me, right? Do you know how hard that is?" So I absolutely understand that hearing someone, even Jesus, say not to be anxious doesn't automatically stop the anxiety. It's not always that simple.

However, when I think about what Jesus is saying, I do feel calmer. God does know what I need, and he will provide. What I need may be far less than what I want or what I think I need, but I believe that one way or another he will provide. I can't even tell you how many times people in our lives have blessed us with a little money or a meal at a time when we really needed it. God does use other people to provide.

And that is something I am trying to keep in mind in my daily life- is there something I can do that may provide for or help someone else? Does God want to use me to provide for someone? In the Christian community as a whole, how good are we at letting God use us to provide for people's needs? I think the Christian community does some wonderful things to meet needs, but when I think of how many people in the world are starving, and how many people have to rely on government assistance because their neighbors- meaning us!- are hoarding our food, money, and possessions instead of doing everything we can to meet people's needs, I can't help but think that the Church could do so much better. Let's treasure God and treasure people; let's put our hearts into them, not possessions. "For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."