Less Is More

When I had to declutter because of the move, I saved many inspiring sayings that would encourage me as I got rid of stuff.
Know what I found?
Whether a person had a lot of stuff or a little stuff, if that was the emphasis, then their heart was wrong.
Getting rid of stuff is painful. It’s an emotional ordeal.
Why?
Because that stuff means something.
Maybe it means more than it should.
By choosing to keep certain things, they became more special.

I have trouble making decisions. Sometimes it takes too much energy.
Sometimes, instead of choosing between two things in a store, I will get both. Hoping at home I can decide.
Often I don’t.
My indecision makes me procrastinate on deciding.
And now I have two thrift store shirts when one would suffice.

By becoming more intentional in purchases, I can minimize what comes into the house.
But regardless of how much stuff I have, it holds a power over me.
Why?
I buy it.
I wash it.
I use it.
I repair it.
I protect it.
I store it.

You see?
Stuff consumes my time.
Takes more thought than it should.
Even choosing not to have stuff takes time.
I must debate whether the item has its place.
Whether it’s worth the money.
Whether it meets a need.
That’s a lot of time!

Regardless of whether you minimize or keep everything you can—know what I found?
The Satisfaction of its presence or its absence does not last.

We have substituted stuff for real meaning.
Satan has deceived us into thinking more stuff or less stuff will bring happiness.
It does not.
They both leave us empty.

The way we value stuff is a measure of our heart.
If our heart is filled with stuff, there is no room for God.

Often with today’s Christians, we disdain those in the Bible for worshipping idols made with hands, yet we have our stuff.
Maybe we don’t bow down to it, but we certainly clean it, shine it, and set it in a prominent place in our homes.
Maybe it’s the tv.
All our time is spent before it.
We even lay down before it.
It is never off.
Maybe it’s how much stuff we have. 
We pride ourselves in not having too much. Or that we have this particular stuff.

Where are your thoughts?
What consumes you?
Who has the idol now?
It’s not even gold that we have.
Yet it draws our eyes, then our hearts away from God.
We have no room for God.

Our stuff takes over our thoughts.
What should I pack for this trip?
What should I buy for this gift?
How should I organize this mess?
Stuff!
It gets in the way of thinking about God.

We've allowed God’s gifts to take the place of God Himself.
Read that again.

You will seek and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 
Jeremiah 29:13.

We aren’t searching for God, not with our heart.
So we don’t see Him.
He’s ignored.

A.W. Tozer describes this in chapter one in Pursuit of God, 
This possessive clinging to things is one of the most harmful habits in life.

Possession becomes the tyrant of control
Surrender allows man to be “poor in spirit.”

Abraham was a rich man. 
His stuff did not hinder him from seeking God.
He had everything, but possessed nothing.
God owned it.
It was surrendered to His use.

By possessing nothing, our stuff doesn’t hold its weight in our heart.
They are not our possessions.
They are God’s.

Surrender. Our. Stuff.
Our time.
Our thoughts.
Our things.
Our families.
Give them to God.

It is not without cost.
Abraham's real test was his one and only son. 
God told him to sacrifice him.
Imagine the mental battle Abraham went through to finally surrender his son to God.
God had told him that through Isaac all nations would be blessed. 
Isaac had to be alive to do that.
Abraham came to the conclusion that God would have to raise Isaac from the dead—because he believed God’s promises. 
That was before anyone dead had been made alive.
That’s trust.
But to surrender his only son tore his heart and soul in two.
Not to mention what he’d tell Sarah when he returned without Isaac! 
But Abraham surrendered. It. all.

That same tearing of heart and soul was Christ’s lot in the Garden when He told His Father, “Not My will, but Thine.”

That sacrifice and pain must be made in our own hearts to achieve that “whole hearted” surrender.

If we are seeking to know God, God will show us that one item, that person, that one part that keeps us from giving Him our whole heart.

We want to distract Him.
“Look what service I’ve done for you here.”
But it's in total surrender that God’s presence is found.
Less or more?
It’s all Gods. 
And we are His.
He wants our entire heart.

I write about what matters...to you---
women, wives and moms---
about your family, faith and future.
I write about what's hard, what helps and what heals.
I show you how it's done. And not done.
I hold your hand as you find what matters to the Savior.
And let go of those things that mattered to you, but not to Him.
I write about what matters...to Him.
               Sonya Contreras

Faith
Find more articles about faith here:
Are You Disturbed?
Unity of the Brothers
Encouragements To Declutter
Do You Have Too Much Stuff?
Too Much Stress
Getting Past the Noise—The Value of Silence
Are You Scatterbrained?
How Good Are You?
Looking for Something Good To Read?
A Cup of Cold Water
I Will Trust When I Cannot See
Encouragement—What Is It?
Being in God's Presence
"Einstein and the Professor"
When God Is Silent
Do You Crave Beauty?
Using Stories to Discipline
The Danger of the Wrong Story
Using Stories to Teach Lessons
God is in charge of the future
November Dare Joy Challenge
Ungratefulness
Developing an Attitude of Gratitude
Looking for Jesus
What Do Your Prayers Reflect?
Life's Little Pleasures
Daniel—Greatly Loved by God
Take Every Thought
Jars of Clay
What Do Your Words Reveal about Your Heart?
How Do You Get Strong Faith?
Too Busy for God's Word?
How Do You Think Like Jesus?
Reflections from a Mom
Pain—What's It Good For?
Why Marry?
Consider the Robin
One Life Who Made a Difference
What Day Are You Living In?
Interrupted by God
Is Jesus Really the Answer to Everything?
Are You Beat Up?
What's Your Hurry?
Are You a Manipulator?
Are You Salty?
Are You Condemned?
Trying to Understand?
Do You Expect Answers to Your Prayers?
Do You Eat Your Stress?
Need Focus?
Going through Trouble?
Immanuel—God with Us
Looking for a Relationship?
When God Says, "No!"
What Do You Do with Left-Overs?
How Great Is Your God?
Are You Needy?
How Do You See Sin?
What Do Your Words Mean?
Is Evil Overwhelming You?
Those Aha Moments
Is Your Soul Happy?
Are You Ignored?
Looking for the God Moment
Do You Know Truth from Almost Truth?
I Believe in Jesus—What Now?
Do You Have Your "Son"-Glasses On?
Less Is More
Singing His Praise
Are You Trying To Do It All?
What Do You Do with All These Prayer Requests?
Have a Problem?
Do You Know How to Pray?
Looking for God in Every Moment
Are You Receptive to God's Blessings?
Tell the Senate: Mothers Aren't Birthing People
Is Your Life Complicated?
How Do We Fight Evil?
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
Giving Up or Taking Away
the Bible is simple
Are You a Dripping Faucet?
What's Your Testimony?
The Final Move
Be Careful What You Wish For!
Are Your Prayers Answered?
I Choose Joy
What Have You Learned from Your Hardship?
Who Are You Trying to Change?
What's Your Five-Year Plan?
The Danger of "Aloneness"
My Colors
Are You a Whiner?
Are Your Works Approved?
Do You Think You're Stressed?
Is Your Soul Feeling Ragged?
God Speaks to the Heart of the King
What about the Details?
Have You Felt the Long-Suffering of God?
How Does God Lead You?
Do You Have Enough?
Don't Carry More than You Need
Cast the Seed
God Is Faithful
Are You Deceived?
Are You Essential?
Are You Safe?
Are You Tired of the Same Old Thing?
Does the World Make Sense?
Have You Seen God's Majesty?
Do You Feel Judged?
If You Only Had One More Day To Live
Are You Understood?
Do You Long for the Word of God?
Slow Down and Smell the Dead Leaves
Are You Hospitable?
Our Heritage Is Bought by Blood
Are You Disturbed?
Are You Depressed?
I Did It My Way
Finding the Simple Life with Meaning
The Simple Life
Do You Have the Right Words?
Did Your Dream Die?
On the Other Side of the Fence
Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence
Confessions of a Desperate Mom
Saving for Tomorrow
A Wedding Remembered
Who Will Stand in the Gap?
Are You a Protector or a Ruler?
Who Are You?
Are You an Image Bearer or a Wad of Cells?
Are You a Watchman?
Where Do You Find Meaning?
The Lamb of God as Told by a Scribe
What Love Is This?
Remember: The Symbols of Passover Explained
Tea and Rest
Do You Have Peace?
What Makes a Marriage Work?
When Life Is Awful
Are You Strong Enough?
Rules
Seasons
Be Faithful through Suffering
Do You Know the Word?
Wake Up! Strengthen What Remains
Are You Spit in God's Mouth?
Is Jezebel in Your Midst?
Do You Stand Against Satan Himself?
Are You Tired of Being a Mom?
What in the World Is Happening?
It's Not My Story
How Would Your Faith Compare?
Are You Sinking?
Are You a Rule Follower?
Useful for Him
An Intimate Moment with Mary
The Worldview that Makes the
   Underclass
Thoughts to Ponder
What Does It Take To Know the
    Heart of God?
See the Story in the Stars
Do the Scriptures Burn You?
Being in His Presence
Contentment: It's Not for the Timid
How Secure Are You?
How Do You Respond To Stupid People?
The Earthworm Is My Hero
Heart Issues or Issues of the Heart
Things Aren't Always What They Seem
More faith articles are found here:

under the Table of Contents. Also available in book form.
Or here:

under the Table of Contents. Also available in book form.
Articles on Suffering can be found  here, 

under Table of Contents. Also available in book form.
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