The Truth About Excess

It was a statistic I had never heard before. If you make $35,000 a year or more, you are in the top 4% of earners in the WORLD.

I sat very still for a while. Because I didn't want to admit it. I didn't want to admit that my husband and I are in the top 4% of earners in the WORLD. I didn't want to admit that I'm the rich person the Bible talks about. You know the verse: "...it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." (Matthew 19:24)

Sure, in terms of millionaires and billionaires in this country, I'm considered poor. But if I take the world as a whole, I'm so well off it's not even funny. I have access to resources, jobs, people, and the opportunities for wealth truly are endless.

Thanks, Jen Hatmatker. Thanks for helping me see how warped my mind can really be sometimes. Can we be besties?

It was a rough week for me. Probably one of the roughest on my faith journey to date. Some dark days of confusion clouded my ability to accept the truth. And then God got through to me. It's strange to me that the weeks God messes up my life completely have turned out to be the very best learning curves for me. Because I need to be reminded often where I stand in the kingdom of God. 

And today, in terms of my resources, I'm very rich.

This past weekend, my husband and I had Father's Day at our home. Our home, which is filled with beautiful trinkets and treasures, is modest in comparison to Beverly Hills, but it's practically a mansion compared to the humble abodes other people call home in other parts of the world. 

We had a table full of food. A TABLE FULL. We could have fed a small army with all the food sitting on our table. I had to put leftovers in my garage fridge. That's right, my garage fridge. Not my kitchen fridge. Not the deep freeze that's full of food. The garage fridge. It scares me to think that we have so much food I have to have a second refrigerator to accommodate it all. 

And then last night, after working in our garden all evening (praise Jesus we have a huge backyard where we can grow our own food), I took a hot shower. With clean, running water. Have you ever found yourself there? Standing beneath the shower head and thinking, "I'm really lucky I live in this country. I'm lucky to have warm water. I'm lucky to bathe every single day"?

I praised God for that hot, running water. Why don't I do that more often? Why do I take the little things for granted? Why don't I praise God for them more often? Why can't I see how blessed I truly am?

It's because I have too much. I look around my house and it's just excess. 

Can I just be honest here for a moment? This morning while I was reading my Bible, I stopped and asked myself a really simple question: Is there anything that you need right here in this moment? My answer was 'no'. I went one step further. Is there anything that you want right now in this moment? My answer was 'no'.

Friend, never in my life before have I ever answered 'no' to the second question. Never. There is truly nothing more in this world that I want that I haven't already been given. In terms of material possessions, food, and shelter, God has truly blessed me.

I know that this moment won't last forever. Everything is temporary. I am entitled to none of this. But I'm grateful that God, who is rich in mercy and grace, has given me everything I could ever dream of or want at this point in my life. It's unreal. It's scary. It has me worried. My fear is that I'll forget where I came from. From that two-room studio. From a broken past wracked with trust issues and bitterness. I'm scared I'll forget what God has done for me. I pray often about this. It's probably why God decided to mess my life up over my wealth. To remind me that without Him, I am and have nothing.

God has equipped me with 'excess' and I know what I need to do with it now. I need to start giving it away. Because everything I own and possess is really His. If I want my excess to mean something, then I have to do good with it. I want to do good with it. That's my heart's newest desire.

The truth about excess is this: God always intended for us to use our blessings to bless others. So, let's do it. Let's make this excess thing a good thing. Especially when there are so many people in this world who need our excess. 

God uses His people to be His hands and feet in this world. Let's be that for Him. Let's reach out. Let's stop amassing material possessions that won't last beyond our lifetime. Let's be a simple people. Let's love the Lord and His people. And let's remind them God cares deeply for them.

--Jessica