The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing

After our incredible experience at Bulembu and then a couple days of relaxation on the beach, we laid on the grassy bank in front of our beach rental looking up at the stars and laughing together for over an hour. We were all on a high. Then, as we packed to leave for home the next morning, we discovered that we had been robbed. Nate’s professional camera, lens, HD video camera, laptop…my passport, driver’s license, credit cards, debit card, digital camera, cell phone, shoes, memory cards, $50 in cash, etc. It was a shot to the gut…the whole way home (after 3 hours with the police), I felt like my “tires” had been deflated.

This immediately reminded me of a chapter I just finished reading called, “The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing” in The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. “The roots of our hearts have grown down into things, and we dare not pull up one rootlet lest we die. Things have become necessary to us, a development never originally intended. God’s gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset by this monstrous substitution.” P.22

Now for Nate and I, the loss of these items were mainly discouraging/frustrating, and we were simply happy none of us were harmed. I’ve been just fine without those material items, and hopefully, Nate’s insurance will come through. The roots are in more complex things, such as, wanting to take credit for talents/successes instead of giving them to God, or holding to attitudes against others, or wanting to ignore the spiritual and trust in my own reasoning, etc. Tozer goes on to say, “Our gifts and talents should also be turned over to Him. They should be recognized for what they are, God’s loan to us, and should never be considered in any sense our own. We have no more right to claim credit for special abilities than for blue eyes or strong muscles. Whoever defends himself, will have himself for his defense…”

“For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” I Corinthians 4:7