Rebecca Henderson

Clearing out my apartment in China had an effect on me that I hope I don’t lose as long as I live. I arrived in China in fall of 2000 with two action-packers, a suitcase, and a computer bag. Over the following 10 years those belongings multiplied into enough furniture, appliances, office supplies, books, and what not to fill an apartment. Much of it was necessary for doing my job. A lot of it was not.

I was able to give much of it away to people who needed it when I came back to the U.S. I felt a sense of freedom over the next year of living in the spare bedrooms of friends and family across the U.S., and I still long to maintain the freedom of not having too many possessions. Houses are not bad, furniture and appliances and books are not bad, it’s the “what not” that I don’t want to wake up 10 years from now and find has built up around me like snow drifts again.

To that end, I’ve committed not to buy things I don’t need to fulfill a purpose, and I’ve also committed not to buy something new if a second-hand version is available and just as good as the new version. Beyond that, I’ve begun doing something I read about in a Randy Alcorn book a while back (I think it was Money, Possessions, and Eternity) — I’ve started praying for God to provide things rather than just running out and automatically buying them when I get the notion that I want them. I admit this at the risk of sounding like I ascribe to a “name it and claim it” type of theology, but it’s not that at all. It’s just that I’m learning that prayer slows me down. If I stop and pray about a purchase before I make it, then ask God if He would provide it rather than me buying it, it keeps me from buying too much. If I truly need something, God will provide it. If I pray about something for a while and nothing happens, I’m forced to reconsider whether I really need that thing after all.

This is a mysterious and supernatural way to go about acquiring things, but it can also be quite mundane and practical. In the last couple of months, our church has started a group on Facebook called “Share” based on Acts 2:45 and 4:32 — the early Christians “had all things in common” and distributed amongst themselves the proceeds from selling their belongings. Basically, within the Facebook group church members can post things they either need or have to give. It’s a fascinating group to keep track of. Sometimes God uses something as uninspiring as Facebook to answer prayers. So far I’ve been blessed to be on both the giving and receiving end of needs posted in the group, and honestly, when I check the notifications for that group I do so with anticipation at the thought of possibly being able to help someone out and get a little disappointed when I can’t.

The verses in Acts are pretty clear that the early believers weren’t just giving out of their excess, either. I’ve thought and prayed about this a lot in the last few weeks. It’s happened at least once that I know of (and maybe more, I’m not sure) that someone in the Facebook group gave a treasured possession to someone else who asked for it. The giver wasn’t necessarily finished using the item. It still had use, was in great condition, was not an inexpensive item. But someone posted a need for just such an item, and when the giver saw the post, the truth of Scripture came to mind — there are times when God asks us to give sacrificially — and it was clear to her that she should give away the item. Man, what a challenge to the rest of us.

At the same time that God has been so gracious to show me through His Body how He provides for our material needs, He has also been teaching me that there are some needs (or problems or whatever) that come up in life that no person can help with, as much as they may like to. More than once in the last few months, I have sat across the table from dear friends and shared life’s difficult circumstances, often with tears, but with no real possibility of giving or receiving a tangible solution. Again, I’ve been on both ends of it, and I’ve both heard and spoken the words, “I want so badly to fix it, but what is there that I can do?” Some situations cannot be fixed with one action, or with ten or twenty actions — often, these are our greatest needs. We would empty our wallets, our closets, our cabinets to make things better, but none of that would mend a broken relationship, make time go by any faster, make wounds heal, make hearts grow.

And so God allows us to carry one another’s burdens despite our helplessness. I am grateful for the material blessings He has given through my friends and my church, but I am perhaps even more thankful for those dear ones who sit and cry with me, who pray for me, who aren’t afraid of the awkwardness of silence or of difficult, painful conversations. When our own abilities to change things seem most limited, the strength, power, and grace of Christ are most evident.