God's Storehouse

I knew that something had to change - that something had to be different - when I felt like buying a guitar had become my world's greatest investment. After seeking advice from two different friends who knew the ins and outs of guitars, I came up with a list of must-haves for my new purchase. On paper, it looked nice, but when it actually came to finding the right one, I quickly became overwhelmed.

It had to be a good brand, but not too professional and expensive, nor too cheap. It needed this kind of top and that kind of strings. It needed to be affordable and preferrably used, but not dinged up. It would be great if it came with a case, but only a hard one and not a soft one. If it was going to be acoustic-electric, it needed a certain sound when it is plugged in. And of course it had to pretty and sound good to me when I played it.

We looked on Craigslist in Nashville, only to discover that you were lucky to find a single guitar that met all of the qualities above. Even then, I couldn't figure out how to get the guitar back to me before I moved back to school. On top of that, those guitars sold faster than you could click a button.

We tried Guitar Center. We researched guitars online. I even checked the ads on Harding's website. I pursued a few options, but they kept falling through. Too expensive. No case. Wrong brand. Too many people to please in order to make the perfect purchase. I was honestly getting kind of sick of it all.

"This is just too complicated," I explained to my mom one evening as we were taking a stroll through the neighborhood. "I wish I hadn't told anyone about this idea. Then I would have said to myself one day, 'I am gonna learn how to play the guitar', and then gone out and bought one without telling anyone. I would have been plenty happy. And I wouldn't have all this stress."

"Plus," I added, "All I wanna do is just lead worship."

My mom replied with words of wisdom, which she always seems to have at the right moment. "I have been thinking about the way we view our money," she said. She explained that it is important to seek advice and strive to be frugal as you manage your money. "The money that we have really belongs to God, and so we need to spend it wisely." She paused while I let that soak in, then she continued, "But you also have to remember that our Father has all the money in the whole world. So we don't have to be afraid to spend it and then wait for Him to provide more and more."

God is not limited by money. It all belongs to Him anyway. As His children, we have an endless supply to the resouces of God. So as it is important to manage His money, it is also not worth the stress to make the "perfect purchase" and save just a few bucks every here and there.

"Especially when it comes to spending our money on others," my mom said. "We certainly shouldn't skimp when we are giving."

So a couple of days later (the day before I moved back to school), I bought a decent Fender from a friendly guy in town. At school, I checkout out Guitar for Dummies - yes, the bright yellow one - and went to town on my new guitar. While I was practicing, the time slipped away from me, and my friends were knocking on my door to begin our small group Bible study that we have in my room every week.

"You wanna hear a song?" I smiled big as I opened the door with my guitar in hand.

"Sure!" They all agreed as they came in and settled onto the beds and the floor.

I strummed a few chords and then started to sing, "Light of the world, you stepped down into darkness. Open my eyes, let me see."

A few voices joined in and the side conversations started to hush. "Beauty that made this heart adore you, hope of a life spent with you."

Without my asking, the whole group of girls sang. "Here I am to worship. Here I am to bow down. Here I am so say that you're my God."

Although every chord probably had a muted string and we had to pause briefly before every chord change, we worshipped.

And I realized that was why I bought the guitar in the first place. It didn't come with a case. It had a few dings. The strings were old. Yet it was accomplishing the beautiful purpose that it was made for. After only a few days, this guitar was bringing forth my heart's desire: spontaneous worship.

Thank you, Jesus, for sharing your unlimited resources with us. We promise to take care of the money that you give us. Sometimes, we will be frugal. Other times, we will be generous. But most of all, we will trust you with our purchases and seek to glorify you with every decision we make. Your storehouse never runs empty.