Ownership

How zealously do we cling to that which has never really been ours? The most incriminating indictment is that we, at some point, journeyed to a place where we believed our ownership or involvement was imperative. It is a scary thing to say we love and adore God above all, but to still have things in our lives that are absolutely nonnegotiable. It sounds much like this: “God, send me wherever you will, I’ll do whatever you ask, as long as…” God never promised us middle-upper class comfort and all the amenities that go with it. God never promised we wouldn’t lose loved ones or suffer heartache and pain. The atrocity comes when our car, house, job title, reputation, comfort, money, or even our spouse or child becomes the one thing God is not allowed to use in the way He sees fit. It’s an atrocity because we no longer worship God, but we now find ourselves kneeling at the altar of our nonnegotiable.

I have a terrible memory. I'm not afraid to admit that, and I would like to somehow attribute it to ADD, but I'm not sure that's credible. On a rare occasion by the grace of God something will actually stick. About 9 or 10 years ago I was attending a youth camp up in Pigeon Forge, TN. A camp pastor (who would later become a great mentor and friend) was speaking in detail of his battle with cancer. He and his wife had recently had their second child when he was diagnosed. He was very honest of the struggle it was to think that God would allow this situation. His greatest concern was that his children would grow up without a father and his wife without her husband. He then began to tell us of how God made very clear that He is a father to the fatherless and the Provider and Comforter of the widow. It was in this that I realized that even the honorable positions we hold are not necessary, but more so gracious opportunities given by God, for His purpose, and in His time.

A few years later this guy, now cancer free, says some things that I'm sure a lot of people would be in opposition to, but I believe he sees the world with a biblical perspective that more of us need. He now prays that God would use his children to take the gospel to those who've never heard. He is praying for God to foster a passion in them for the unreached in the world. He knows the cost of such weighty prayers, but he also knows ultimately they are God's children and not his own.

When we claim ownership or entitlement we tread a very dangerous path.