Storehouses and Land

I’m storing goods from past seasons in my parents and in-laws’ houses. Am I hoarding? Am I sentimental? They’re like the babies I’ve birthed but soon died a premature death. I still clung on to a little hope that God would resurrect them. If they’re thrown, they’re gone forever. As I typed this paragraph, I realised it’s been 7++ years since they have been buried when I transited into the season of motherhood.

Recently an event triggered me, and due to pride, I decided to move these goods out of their homes and into storage. Perhaps moving them into my sight and having to pay the money, I would see and feel the pinch to finally throw them away. Or perhaps I need to spend the money for that 3 or 6-month storage to mourn over my past season before I finally say goodbye.

Prayer of Jabez

Yet interestingly, I was reminded of the prayer of Jabez.

And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.

1 Chronicles 4:10 (NKJV)

Was this storage the first step to expanding the land territory? I asked God if there are other bible verses supporting it, and the storehouses of the temple and of Joseph surfaced in my mind.

I googled and found this article on christianity.com which pointed out how in Old Testament times, the Temple had a storehouse to keep the tithes of food for the priests and Levites (Malachi 3:10). Then the article drew references to God opening the storehouses of heaven to give rain. This sounds like how God opened the windows for blessing to pour forth in Malachi 3:10, which then reminds me of the storehouses of Joseph which released food/providence/blessings during the famine.

Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.

Malachi 3:10 (NKJV)

Proverbs 31 Woman

Should I recce and inspect the storage size to see how small it is? I am going for one of the smallest. Would it be enough or worth it? I was contemplating and procrastinating until…

I was searching my email inbox for my daughter’s school field trip details. Somehow my eyes got directed to the end of the list and I saw an unread email from a friend. I would normally open emails from personal friends – so I wondered why I didn’t and opened that email sent during 2018.

It’s a forwarded newsletter talking about Proverbs 31:16.

She inspects a field and buys it. With money she earned, she plants a vineyard.

Proverbs 31:16 (NCV)

And I quote “…praises the woman’s business savvy and work ethic. She herself hasinspected a field and purchased it: she didn’t buy it impulsively, nor expect others to do it for her.She studied the soil conditions and developed a strategy for its best use. She planted the vineyard rather than wait for someone to do it for her. Proverbs 31:16 should clarify for all of us that women are to use their minds, be free to make sound business decisions, have no fear about rolling up their sleeves, and make no apologies for their accomplishments.”

Spiritual Attack

And because of that newsletter and the word ‘inspect’ which stood out to me, I decided to research and perhaps view the units… soon.

When I started to research on the different storage companies last night (23 Jul), spiritual warfare came at that time and lasted through the night. Uncanny coincidence. Why such a strong attack from the enemy when I’m just looking for probably a mere 14 sqft of storage? I might be on to something. I did consider storing things for the coming season too. Come to think of it, getting the storage is a way to push me to prepare for the next season – to work on those projects I wanted to start this year.

After a night of spiritual warfare, leaving me only 3-4 hours of broken sleep, I am amazed I still have the strength to run around and view the storage units. I usually can’t function energetically well with less than 6 hours of sleep. My mind tells me logically it doesn’t make financial sense – just throw the old things away. However, my spirit man couldn’t stop searching for that space.

Enlarge Your Territory

I didn’t think of sharing this personal journey but I felt someone needs to hear this. Or rather, more Christians need to hear about this. God wants to expand your land – be it physical or virtual land. The house, the building, the factory, the website domain, the database, the virtual storage, or like me, a storage space.

God knows your measure of faith before He led you to take that big or small step into the land. My faith is now only big enough for a small space. Even then, I am apprehensive – am I wasting money? Hence I know when the purchase is so big, or the financial commitment is so huge that you have to think again or think thrice. Perspective: We are stewards of His finances, we ought to hold money like stewards not masters.

Lands have been important in different eras and communities. It’s where people find their community, sense of belonging, security and safety. So before I end, I will leave you a cliche, like blessings, expanding the land is for blessing other people and building His kingdom – for HIS glory and not ours.

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