His picket fence? Has anybody ever wondered about the funny name for this blog?
It started with two soul sister best friends (Yes, there are actually two people who write on this blog. One of us just tends to write more nowadays than the other). We were about to graduate college and were dealing with the normal questions society throws at people of that age:
“What do you want to do with your life?”
“Do you have a job?”
“Where are you going to live?”
“Wait…you’re going to Africa? ….. Well, do you have a job lined up for when you get back? How are you ever going to get married? So are you just going to beg people for money and live off of that for the rest of your life?”
We had a desire not to settle. It was a desire not to go except for where our sweet Jesus was whispering, “follow me.” It was not a desire to bash the American dream of a perfect home, a white picket fence, two and a half kids, and a dog - because all of that is fine, if that is where Jesus is calling you. And it was not a desire to get rid of everything we own and move into a mud hut and never eat cheeseburgers again.
It was a desire to build our homes in the Kingdom - to be inside His picket fence, His perfect plan, His heart desires, and to embrace that whole heartedly.
It was a desire to be poor. The poor are desperate.
I’ve learned a lot from my poor friends. Lessons that I could write one thousand blogs about, but there’s one that is really burning in my mind right now.
I’ve learned that their desperation leads to life, and comfortability equals death. If they are not desperate to survive, they will not.
The poor are desperate.
I recently spent some time in the United States and had several conversations that went something like this:
“I love your bag!” - Mallory
“Thank you so much! I got it…..(the sinking realization on somebody’s face that I live in Africa cuts them off, and their excitement dwindles and a nonchalant, somber face ensues)…..on sale. I would have never spent that much money on it, but I really needed a new bag….” -Friend
…and then they would follow the fifteen new reasons why they needed a new bag. I had people apologizing to me about how much money they were spending on meals or clothes or activities.
My brothers and sisters….if only you knew…
I make coffee every morning in a french press.
I work every day on a brand-spanking new laptop.
And I spend too much time on Facebook.
I have the utmost delight in living where I live.
I do not embrace poverty. I do not reject riches. I think it’s beautiful and from the Lord that many believers are seeking how it is right for them to live in a country that is so wealthy. However, I think we need to surrender our actions.
We can not be desperate to have riches, and we can not be desperate to be poor. We can not make a ‘correct’ pattern for life and expect that to shape our hearts and minds.
We have to be desperate for Jesus. A desperation for Jesus will keep us seeking our daily bread. Daily bread that feeds our souls and ‘makes our cup runneth over’. A desperation that forces us to embody humility, and humility is irresistible to the Holy Spirit. Desperation beckons the Holy Spirit into our hearts and then our minds, our actions, and our lives will reflect a desperation for Jesus. Our actions will be molded out of an overflow of our hearts.
A desperation for Jesus may have me living in a home with a bunch of former hood-rats that bring me more joy than a world of accessibility ever could. A desperation for Jesus may have you living in a house much bigger than you could have ever imagined with a job that pays ten times more than what you ever needed.
It should look different on each person, or else we would all be doing the exact same thing. It’s our hearts behind these actions that should look the same.
Desperate. Poor in worldly dreams, worldly emotions, and worldly sacrifices. Poor because there is nothing on this earth that we truly have taken hold of, apart from Jesus.
Being poor is a posture of the heart that is completely dependent and yielded to Jesus. That’s who He welcomes inside His fence. Those are the children who are building in the Kingdom.
“Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” - Matthew 5
