Something Eternal

 ^"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future"
Jeremiah 29:11


"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose"
Romans 8:28


God wants you to be happy!  God wants you to live well, and he wants you to enjoy nice things!  God blessed the Earth with good things so that we could enjoy them!  I've been raised in this society saying that the best is all you can wear, eat, and drive.  I am a very materialistic person, and for a very long time put my self value in my stuff.  I thought that having the best stuff made me a better person.


3 weeks ago I was at a mission trip called H(omeless) O(utreach) M(ission) E(xperience), which is a new program through Carolina Cross Connection.  During this trip our goal was to befriend the homeless community of Asheville.  Like any mission trip I walked in thinking the point of the week was for me to "help" the homeless.  Well me helping them turned out to be the exact opposite of what happened.  Befriending these people helped me.  It taught me that where I found my worth, was worthless.  That these people lived with nothing but a tent and a blanket, yet they were happy, God loving people.  They knew where their worth belonged.  They didn't  have anything, so by societies standard's they were worthless, but they found their worth in something eternal.  There was a man at a homeless hangout one day.  I never had the chance to talk to him, but was told this story by someone else.  This man used to have a very stable job, a nice house, a car, etc.  One day he decided he had drifted from God and quit his job, gave away his money and lives in a tent.  He spends 8 hours a day reading the Bible.  He knew he had put his worth in something neverending.  


This was a hard concept for me to grasp.  My whole high school career I had placed my value in something worthless.  I had wasted so much time worrying about how I appeared to others.  I wanted to always look like I had it all together, but I found out during HOME that we're all broken.  That humans need to strive for completion, not for perfection.  When Jesus returns and judges the living and the dead it won't matter how much money I had, how great my job was, or how nice a car I drove.  Solely the content of my heart will matter.  


I still want things.  I always will, I'm human.  There's nothing wrong with having nice stuff.  If you work for what you have and don't take your blessings for granted, and most importantly, bless others since you yourself have been blessed.  God made nice things for us to own, not nice things to own us.