It is amazing when we read
the stories written by others that our own memories are resurrected with yet a
story we thought we had already told it all.
Then I began to consider people I have known, witnessed to, and often helped in times past, and I realized that they belong to God and they did not really belong to me.
One of the entries by Sharon
Sharing God at “Tell Me a True Story told about a dream she had. In the dream she discovered a lot of her
“Stuff” that she had given away discarded and ready to be buried. She wondered why they had not valued her
stuff !
There are times when it is
necessary to clean out our garage, closets, attic and give to an organization
or find someone who can use what you no longer need.
Long ago, we purchased a
white velvet couch and matching love seat that we enjoyed for many years.
When we moved to our present
mobile home, we decided to purchase a hide-a-bed and would no longer need the
pair of living room furniture.
Our local Teen Challenge was
requesting furniture of any kind, so we make the telephone call and donated our
white velvet chesterfield and love seat along with an office desk and chair and
other items now forgotten.
Some tell us when you contribute
money, you lose the right to say how it will be spent, and I suppose it is the
same with items donated to a good cause.
Apparently what the group did
was to hold a yard sale of the donated furniture to raise funds for their
ongoing expenses.
Time passed, and one day as I
drove my car down one of the semi-main streets of town, there I spotted in the
front yard of a small house our “White Velvet Love Seat,” with a FOR SALE sign
on it.
I knew it was OURS, and at
first I was angry that the person was going to make a profit out of our lovely
seat.
God spoke to me and
said, “Let it go, it is no longer yours, but it is theirs, so they can do with
it as they like.”
Then I began to consider people I have known, witnessed to, and often helped in times past, and I realized that they belong to God and they did not really belong to me.
Let them go, for they are in
good hands.
5 comments:
Vicki K writes: "Such good wisdom... My mother crocheted beautiful little lap throws.... One day she complained to me that she went and visited a friend that she had given a throw to and it was in the dog bed. She was so upset and understandably so but in trying to make her happy I told her...well mom she must love her little dog so much because that was a very special blanket you made her. She thought about it and laughed and all was well!"
Great story and awesome analogy! It is easy to want to become judge and jury over things that we've given... until we remember that none of it is ours to begin with. Thanks for the reminder, Hazel. That story will preach!
I so enjoyed this story...it is funny how we can become so attached to "things". The longer we have them, the more they "grow" on us, and it is sometimes hard to part with them. We had a similar thing happen with some bedroom furniture we gave away, only to find it in terrible disarray later down the line. I felt so irritated that they didn't take care of it, and then I remembered that we had made the choice to give it to them, and it was no longer ours, but theirs. I guess the older we become, the more we realize how insignificant "things" in this life really are...we tend to shift our focus from the temporary to the eternal. I really enjoyed your story, Hazel. God bless you!
Oh Hazel! What a wonderful lesson you *added* to my thoughts! When you mentioned letting go of people into our Lord's good hands, I was really stopped. Just today my son and his new wife flew to Hawaii - yes, where there are 2 (!) hurricanes hitting the islands - and my other son was traveling out of town, too. I have battled crazy anxiety all day, and yet, I prayed like crazy - for I know who holds them close to His heart.
Thanks for mentioning me, and for helping me realize that sometimes the things I must let go of are not just things - but people.
GOD BLESS!
Hazel I would have been just like you. We need to try to keep a check on our thoughts and think what would Jesus think just as we would try to do as Jesus would do
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