How much faith do we really have?

My brother in law and I were discussing the habit of hoarding.  You know, that terrible habit we all have to some extent.  We keep things in case we might need it again.  Some people are terrible hoarders.  You will find clothes in their closet they will never fit into again.  Even if they would manage to fit into it, they probably wouldn't want to be seen dead in it.  Like that horrible black seventies shirt with the large yellow flowers on - still you keep it. Or the number eight dress worn to church in standard 7 (we didn't have grades then).  What about that karate suit you will never even get over your knees, let alone over your bum.  The old platform shoes.  And so we can carry on and come up with many such items.

I want to focus on the linen stash today.  You will find one in most homes.  Curtains that we might use again.  Ugly curtains, long out of fashion.  If we really want to be honest, we will have to admit that we will never hang them again.  Who wants to redecorate a room with old curtains anyway?  A comforter we might use again with matching sheets in an ugly colour that we keep just in case.  We might use them for camping, if we are guaranteed nobody will enter the tent and see them.  Old towels.  Old blankets.  Extra linen.  Do you get the picture?

Why do we keep these things?  Because we might need it again.  That's the standard answer.

While we were talking about hoarding, we started contemplating the issue behind this answer.  Are we not faithless in saying this?  We are actually saying this: "Lord, I cannot sow these things.  I might need it again.  I don't know if You will provide for me in the future, so I have to build up my own stash."

Think about it.  Do we have enough faith in God to provide for us in the future?  Why then are we not sowing our extra stuff to some people in desperate need.  My old curtains could be the only curtains in the house of somebody else.  My old ugly comforter could provide warmth for somebody shivering every night.

We have become so self sufficient, faithless and selfish!

Father God, change our hearts so that we will clothe the naked, feed the hungry and give water to the thirsty, without thinking what it would cost us.  Help us God to put our trust in You alone and not in our own provisions.  Help us to let go of earthly things that we gather up only for the moths to eat.  Help us to open our hands, so that we in turn can receive Your blessings.  We cannot receive anything with clenched hands.  Forgive us our selfishness and our faithlessness.  In the name of Jesus, we ask that You will change our hearts.
Amen