Lessons From Moving

Moving- we forget the pain. Every time I do it, I say "I will never do it again." And then a few years later I do it again.

Our family moved last week. We are keeping all of our stuff in storage as we wait patiently for a new home to be completed that should have been completed months ago. We decided to accept my wife's parent's gracious invitation to house us for the next few weeks (hopefully) while we are in transition as our new home is completed.

Moving has made me quite philosophical. I believe there are spiritual lessons to be learned in all we do. But I tend to contemplate them more at times of life change.

Lessons From Moving:

1. We have too much stuff. This is the obvious one. But never does it become more glaring than when you go through a move. Despite vowing to have nothing stored in the attic, we managed to fill a 1700 square foot house with lots of things. My wife and I promised each other as we spent days packing: we are okay with owning high quality things. We just want to commit to own less of it and have room for our family and possessions to breathe. As great as we think possessions are, it all becomes one giant hassle when you pack and move them.

Jesus said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions." Luke 12:15

2. There is great freedom in having less. Currently about 95% of the things we own are being stored. To me it is freeing to have less stuff to care for. One of my favorite parts of moving is the excuse it gives me to purge and recycle possessions by giving them to charity. I love to purge. My wife used to hate it. But lately she has been admitting that she sees my view- which makes me giddy. We were created to live simple but we constantly gravitate towards complexity.

Ecclesiastes 7:29, "God has made men upright, but they have sought out many devices." It is probably stretching the original meaning some but I have always felt that verse telling me that God made us simple, but we have sought out complications.

3. Nothing in this life goes as planned. In my pride, I congratulated myself for my precise planning. We had sold our home to an acquaintance without going through the hassles of listing it. We leased it back and gave ourselves ample time to move into our new home (we thought). But pride always has a way of embarrassing us. God has many lessons to teach us and the one I must learn over and over is to never place trust in my own cleverness. I get knocked down every time.

Proverbs 16:18, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling."

4. This world is not our home. Every time I start to place confidence in this world, I get disappointed. The new home we envision doesn't turn out quite as nice due to shoddy workmanship. Our dreams are never realized because we live in a world that shows daily reminders that it is fallen. Sin has distorted this world and will continue to do so.

An aside... I am all for the new focus on environmentalism (as long as it is reasonable). I think we should consume less and care more for God's creation. But as my friend Gary Randle said to me recently, "All this talk about going green. We are trying to save a planet that God tells us is going to burn." (2 Peter 3:12). Our hearts are meant to be fixed on heaven. This world under the curse of sin will never be paradise. We have glimpses but nothing to set our hearts on. We should travel light in this life.

I John 2:17, "The world and its desires are passing away, but the one who does the will of God lives forever."

Moving builds in me much needed humility. It reminds me that life is never about stuff. It teaches me that we are currently living in a wilderness in temporary tents. We are seeking the Promised Land.

But often we seek heaven on earth instead of seeking heaven in heaven. All of the grandest homes are one tornado, hurricane, tsunami, fire or earthquake away from being destroyed. Life is about God and others. We can enjoy great prosperity in the eternal life to come (as we fully enjoy God and others). Possessions become our comfort too easy. Thank you God for continuing to destroy these idols in my heart by any means that You see fit.

For His Glory,

Ashley Hodge