Trusting God With Our Treasures

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:21 (ESV)

My husband and I just returned from a five-day trip to the Bahamas, which he earned through his job. It was certainly one of those “dream vacations” that you imagine you might be able to take someday. We went to an all-inclusive resort where we were pretty much treated like royalty from the first minute. We stepped off the shuttle that had brought us from the airport and were greeted with lemon-scented, cool, wet towels, and then ushered into a beautiful reception area where we didn’t have to stand in line to check in. No, they brought us iPads to register while sitting on a comfy couch. After checking in, we were escorted to our room and given a full tour. Our first dinner that night was at a beautiful French restaurant with rich, decadent food and an incredible view. Let’s just say, for people who normally dine out on pizza and Chick-Fil-A, we were completely out of our element. But we weren’t hating it.

Our last night, we dined by candlelight right on the beach, with the lovely Caribbean ocean as our entertainment. The dinner was four courses, prepared by a private chef and served by our own personal wait staff. Everything in between was surreal and most definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

It’s one we almost didn’t have.

Although this trip was completely paid for and earned by my husband’s hard work, there was a little guy we had to leave behind to have this amazing experience. And for several weeks after we learned about the trip, that was a sticking point. In fact, I wasn’t going to go. End of discussion. Not. Going.

Yet last Saturday, there I was on a plane headed for the Bahamas. It took a lot of convincing from the people who love me and love my son. It took reminders that I wasn’t in control anyway, and that I could not only trust my family with him, but more importantly, I could trust God with him. As much as the vacation itself was tempting, and I knew I needed the time away with my husband, it wasn’t until I began to trust God with my son that I could let go and take this much-needed trip. And I did so with complete peace in my heart and reassurance that He would take care of everything. And He did.

My son is one of my earthly treasures. Over the course of his life, I’m going to have to leave him in God’s hands many, many times. When he starts “big school” for the first time. When he goes away overnight without me. When he starts middle school. When he learns to drive. When he starts a job. When he goes off to college. (But, wait, let’s not think about that just yet.)

Is there a treasure in your life that you desperately cling to when God is asking you to give it to Him? Maybe it’s a talent or a gift. Or your finances. Or a relationship. Maybe a health issue. Or a family member who is making unwise choices. You can trust God with them all.

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I love the verse referenced above, but Matthew 6 is actually full of reassurance when we are hesitant to trust God with our treasures.

Here is  just a little bit  from verses 25-29:

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they  neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”

God’s hands hold the entire universe in place. They carved out oceans, formed mountains, fashioned human beings out of dust and bones. Surely we can trust those almighty hands with our most priceless treasures. In return, He will give us peace, and do much more with our treasures than we ever could.

Love in Christ,