The Life of Richness...

My husband has a new job working for a billionaire.  This man is very generous and definitely takes care of his employees for which we are incredibly grateful.  We were invited to a yearly fourth of July party complete with helicopters flown in for the event as well as guys who came out of nowhere parachuting with little motors.  The party was nothing like anything I had ever seen, we certainly cannot comprehend living a life with that much wealth, it was mind-blowing!

The decorations were like an upscale wedding under a huge tent.  White roses and hydrangea.  It is beyond comprehension really; this lavish life!

The carnival that we attended was seemingly over the top as well.  I had never seen anything like it!  There were rides set up just like the county fair only on a smaller scale complete with the carnival workers. My son got to ride the rides with no lines or waiting.  He could practically stay on any of the ones that he wanted for as long as he wanted!  We could go to the snack shop and order whatever we wanted at no cost to us!  Cotton candy, hot dogs, fry bread; you name and it was ours for the asking! We even won stuffed animals that were better than any prizes I had ever won at any other fair in my lifetime.  So we ended up having our hands full as we finally decided we had had enough and took our exhausted bodies to the car dragging the hugest Dumbo you could ever see and "Arnold" our new adopted alligator to home-sweet-home.  Amazing!  Frivolous!  Scandalous in its lavishness (At least to my humble eyes).

Lavishness...that is the heart of our generous, loving Father.  He owns it all!  Everything!  He desires to give to us so much more than we can hold.  Abba Daddy!  The one that loves us beyond measure. he longs for us to receive.  He desires that we would enjoy all that He has for us.  I am thinking so far beyond material things.  His Word says that He will make ALL grace abound to us so that we would have ALL that we need....abounding in everything...everything that really matters!  I think of the believers who live in India or Africa or any number of impoverished areas of our world...are they doing something wrong that they are poor?  I don't believe that for a moment!  In so many ways I think they are richer in their understanding of what riches are; true riches.  To know the love of God in such a deep way that you can abide with great peace whether with little or much.  To know the peace of God in one's heart whether living in a war torn land or living in the chaos of a dog-eat-dog world.

I think of the story of Rich Mullins, the singer and writer of poems and stories that are rich in meaning and raw emotion...he was at the top of the Contemporary music industry in the eighties with "Awesome God" among many other well known Christian songs that are now classics...when he made it to the top, so to speak, he made a lot of money.  But, he only took what was the average salary  of a working man for his wages and did not even know how much money he actually made. His life was rich with the love and grace of God (as expressed through his music and interviews), so much so, that the things of this world did not appear to tempt him.

That is the richness that I want...a richness of the spirit, a knowing in my heart, an understanding of the lavishness of the goodness of God in my life.  I want "rose-colored glasses" or shall I say, "God-colored glasses"; glasses that see the blessings of God in my life no matter what may be going on in and around me.  Does this attitude come naturally to me?  I wish I could say that it did, but it is definitely a discipline I must intentionally cultivate.

That is my heart's desire; to live the life of richness...in my soul!