Stuff Everywhere

To the tribe of Levi alone Moses gave no inheritance. The offerings by fire to the LORD God of Israel are their inheritance, as he said to him. Joshua 13:14

It’s a bit of a long, uninteresting story, but we’ve had more than half of our household possessions tucked away in storage for the last four years, and have been living in a tiny garage apartment for the last eight months. Having recently finished (almost) the addition to our cottage, we’ve now got ample room, and so, last week, we were reunited with all our stuff, which has nown been sitting in piles everywhere, while we slowly unpack, rediscovering all our stuff.

I’m certainly happy to be in the new space, but I’d like to think that I was just as happy living in the garage. Honestly, my life hasn’t changed much, and I doubt it will. I still get up early every day to seek my faith and recovery, point my life at God, and to find my center in him. I was glad to see some of my old stuff – I found my favorite coffee cup. But daily, I try to find my joy, purpose, and meaning in God, not in what I own. Still, I wonder what I’d say if God asked me to give it all away, like Jesus asked the rich young ruler to do (Matthew 19:16-22). Could I let go of all my stuff, being content with just God? I like to think that I own my stuff and that my stuff doesn’t own me, but if God asked me to surrender it all, would I obey, finding my life only in him?

In today’s passage, we read how the tribe of Levi didn’t inherit a part of the promised land like the other tribes of Israel. As Israel conquered and repossessed the land of Canaan, God instructed them to divide it up amongst 11 of the 12 tribes. But the Levites were to be the priestly tribe, and their inheritance was God himself. I’ve got to wonder if they felt cheated. Or did they take the eternal view that in possessing God, they were the wealthiest people on Earth?

Ten years ago, in the disaster of my addiction, I nearly lost everything. At the time, we were supposed to move into a bigger, better house, but without a job or a paycheck, we couldn’t buy that house. So, while I went off to treatment, my wife moved herself and the kids into a little cabin with her parents. In treatment, it appeared as if I was losing them as well. In that despair, I began to truly learn faith – relying on God for everything. It was only in losing everything, that I could begin to find my joy, purpose, and meaning only in him.

The lesson for me now, is that if I don’t want to go back to that despair, I must daily find my center in God, not my stuff. The only way to insulate my life from loss of stuff is to not rely on it. So, daily, I must remind myself that my life isn’t found in my stuff, but rather in having a right relationship with the creator of all that stuff.