Living on Less and Loving it!

Simplify.  Sort out.  Start Fresh ...  A tagline from a gap advertisement that I cut out of a magazine over ten years ago.  It spoke to me.  Jumped off of the page.  Made me long for more of just that!  It didn't make me go out and buy more Gap clothes, but it sent me on a journey that I believe is worth all of us taking.

I'd like to tell you that from that day on I began to live a life on less.  A more simple existence.  Less stuff.  But yes, as with all things, change takes time.  There were seasons where we seemed to be adhering to this philosophy, but you know what happens, you start making more money, you start seeing more things that you just have to have.  You buy them.  You work harder to maintain all of them, and you are on the wheel again.

A year ago, we were in a very prosperous time in our lives.  We had a beautiful horse farm, nice cars, a lake home, a lovely boat,  feeling very blessed and loving the Lord in the midst of all of it.   We had to be in the will of God if we were prospering, right?  Not necessarily.  I have found that there is a fine line between what is good and what is God's best.  And I have found that many times, what is God's best for us looks completely different than we ever thought.

Last May we heard the voice of the Lord.  It was hard to miss it.  It came as a thundering clap this time.  I think He knew I needed it that way!  We knew we were to pick up and move.  Leave it all behind.  Simplify.  Sort out.  Start fresh.  We heard His voice, and this time, without hesitation, we said "Yes, Lord...whatever it looks like, whatever you want, we trust you."  Many of my "yeses" during the years seemed obedient, but they were conditional.  Yes, but.  Yes, but don't touch that.  Yes, but I can't really go that deep.  Yes, but let me keep my hand on this so I feel in control.  Not this time.

Our farm that we were told would take 12 to 18 months to sell sold in 2 1/2 weeks.  Our lake house sold in three days despite a down turn in the second home market.  We left friends, family, jobs, all of it behind to pursue the greatest pursuit of all... a life fully devoted and fully on fire for Him.  The things of the world seemed to just fall away as we put one step in front of the other towards Him.  We suffered great financial loss and in the natural it seemed as if we were taking backwards steps.  We knew, however, that in the spirit we were taking giant leaps forward.

Today, I am sitting in my modest home, in a modest neighborhood, in a town I had not even heard of a year ago.  I am typing this article at my kitchen table with my coffee, my bible, my favorite things all around me.  I feel lighter, more fully alive, more awake, more fulfilled, more full than I ever have.  It is a season for all of us to feel that way, even in the midst of this shaking.

The things of this world tie us down.  They keep us encumbered.  They can skew our priorities at times without us even realizing it is happening.  Am I suggesting we sell everything and go live in a cabin in the woods...not necessarily!  I, too, still love a good pair of shoes and a fun new outfit.  I am simply saying that living on less can free us up in so many ways.  Getting back to the basics and eliminating all of the "stuff" that just takes up space leaves room for so many things to come into our lives.

So, I challenge you.  Clean out that closet.  Take those clothes you haven't worn and give them to someone who needs them more.  Look around you...what is in your life that is keeping you on the wheel of business, of striving, of work, work,=2 0work.  What is falling away that feels painful.  What are you praying to hold on to that perhaps the Lord wants to remove to free you?

Simplify.  Sort out.  Start Fresh.  Let the shaking come.  Let it shake free and out of your life everything that tethers you to this world.  Everything that has somehow become part of our identity.  Everything that can rust and decay.  Everything that takes our eyes off of Jesus and puts them on ourselves.  Everything that has become an idol.  Everything that has kept us from walking in the fullness of His purpose for us on earth.  Let us set our eyes on Him and our heavenly inheritance and let others look at us and see the joy, the indescribable joy, in the midst of the shaking.

Elizabeth Braswell