All Things

Lord, make me what You will.

I put myself fully into Your hands:

Put me to doing, put me to suffering,

Let me be employed for You, or laid aside for You,

Let me be full, let me be empty,

Let me have all things, let me have nothing...

Earlier this week, I mentioned our flood from this past fall. Another thing I learned through that experience is that we have too much stuff. Too much junk. We threw out a bunch of stuff and we still have too much. It's amazing how much you can accumulate and how tight of a grip your stuff can have on you. As I sorted through things, the criteria I tried to apply to our stuff was this: could I stand to live without this if it were all destroyed? If I could, then I didn't really need it. If I couldn't...well, that's a whole other discussion. Is there really anything we have that we couldn't live without? (Aside from my iPhone, of course...!)

Let me have all things...isn't that the American dream? Every week, we're inundated with commercials and newspaper ads and online ads telling us what new stuff we need to buy and how this thing or that thing will make us better, sexier, stronger, smarter...or whatever! We're told in the holiday season that it's our responsibility, as consumers, to make sure the retailers make lots of money. In the aftermath of 9/11, we were told we should go out and buy stuff to stimulate the economy. In good days and bad, our culture's answer is to buy more stuff, accumulate more things. Having "all things" really has become our mantra.

But do all those things make us better people, happier individuals? This part of the prayer echoes Paul when he wrote to the Philippians:

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength (Philippians 4:11-13).

The question this prayer puts before us is this: are we content with what we have? Will we be content no matter what God chooses to place in our lives? Even if we don't have "all things" (or all the things our world thinks are important), will life be okay?

Recently I learned of an acquaintance who was going through life without something I think is essential. And because I am a "fixer," I began to try to come up with a solution to their "problem" (as I defined it). After I explored several avenues, I was finally told, "It's okay. We're not unhappy. We have learned to live without it. And it's fine. Life is good." I was reminded that having "all things" as I define it isn't that important to everyone.

Let me have all things....let me have nothing. Let me be content with what I have. And let me have nothing that distracts me from fully following you.