God Owns Everything

"For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills." ~Psalm 50:10

There are Powerball billboards all over Lincoln. Whenever I see one I think, "Man, what I could do with $50 million. Surely God would bless the lottery ticket if I purchase one." Then one day it hit me- God owns all the cattle on a thousand hills. I tried to picture the immensity of that amount of land and investment. If God owns all of that, and I have a need, I think that He has the resources to provide for me!

I have several stories that illustrate God's provision in my own life. People showing up with hand me down clothes for my children, or extra produce from their garden. There was one time when I had a desire to go to a conference. My husband had been laid off for over a year, was working a temp job, and had no paid vacation time. There was no way we could afford to go to the conference, especially given that he wouldn't be paid for the time. I said, "If God gives us the money for the conference can we go?" And my husband agreed that he wouldn't argue with God!

Just a few days later he came home from helping a friend work on his car. This family had offered to pay for our registration costs so we could go to the conference! I could hardly believe it! Now, we just had to work things out so we wouldn't be hit so hard with a week of no pay. But who was I kidding- God is in control and He owns everything. Also during that week, two other friends approached my husband with odd jobs that they needed someone to take care of. The combined about for their jobs covered the week's worth of pay he would miss by going to the conference! God is incredible and truly has the resources to provide for everything we need, and even some things that are just nice to have.

But what about the boxes of kids' clothes in the closet? And the piles of unused craft supplies in boxes? And the closet full of stuff we can't even remember what we put in there? Getting rid of things that you're holding on to for "someday" is another way of showing trust in the Lord for His provision. By getting rid of the things that you're not using, you're telling God that you trust Him to provide for your needs when they occur. There's no need to horde things you may never use "just in case."

Don't get me wrong- my boys are eighteen months apart and my girls are 24 months apart. I hold on to clothes for future use. My rule is if I know I'll use it in the next year, or even two, to go ahead and keep it, otherwise we pass it on to someone who can actually use it. We'll trust that the Lord will provide for our needs as they come along. And we'll give Him the opportunity to show His power and might by putting ourselves in a position to need Him.