Surviving

I believe the Lord wants us to be content in Him; the apostle Paul wrote about experiencing that
contentment, regardless of our circumstances. We can read in 1st Timothy chapter 6:
6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain.
7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.

It's been said that God is not against us having things; He just doesn't not want things to have you.  That's a good lesson for us - it's vital to a productive and vibrant Christian life that we are not caught up in what the Bible refers to as the "cares" of this world.  We can reject the worry and anxiety of pursuing wealth, power, or position, and enjoy the peace that passes all understanding.  He is our sufficiency, and He wants us to live in the pleasure of knowing and experiencing that.

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In Matthew chapter 6, we find that Jesus is teaching about trust Him as our sufficiency.  Picking up in verse 25, we can read:
25 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Perhaps you have been following a trend toward what are called "tiny houses."  The website, The Tiny Life, says:

Simply put, the trend toward tiny houses has become a social movement. People are choosing to downsize the space they live in, simplify, and live with less. People are embracing the tiny life philosophy and the freedom that accompanies the tiny house lifestyle. The tiny house movement is about more than simply living in a small space (although, a small house is certainly part of it).

The site defines a "tiny house" as less than 400 square feet; it says the average home in America is 2600 square feet.

This could really be an entre' into a discussion of pursuing a simple life, perhaps become more minimalist in our approach.  And, it's true that we can examine what we have and see if we could get by with less in order to be more generous to those who have less.

But, I want to shift in a direction of how this tiny house concept is being used by a ministry in California to bring hope and dignity to women in crisis.  Faithwire recently profiled Acres of Hope, a ministry to women described as: "a neighborhood of tiny homes, a space that provides not just for visitors’ physical needs, but meets their psychological and spiritual requirements, too."  The article continues:

Acres of Hope, a faith-based charity, sees each of those needs as equally important.

“People need to have their basic needs met, obviously. They need to have food, clothing, shelter. But that’s not going to transform them,” Lisa Risdal, the organization’s executive director, told Faithwire. “That’s not going to equip them to be able to support themselves and their children. It’s not gonna equip them to succeed or even become a loving and nurturing mom.”

The neighborhood is located in Auburn, in northern California. The women who come are survivors of "different kinds of trauma, some stemming from sexual abuse or domestic violence. Others are suffering with drug addictions or alcoholism. Some have simply struggled to break out of the cycle of homelessness." The article states:

With all their physical needs provided for, Risdal said, it frees the mothers up to invest the necessary amount of time into their emotional and spiritual healthiness.

Risdal said it’s important for the woman to learn they have “a loving God and that they have something that’s much bigger than themselves that they can lean on, that they can draw from, finding out that they are worthy, that they know what a safe and loving relationship looks like.”

Women stay up to two years in the program.  They, along with their children, stay in a tiny house that has been customized, "decorated and furnished specifically for them."  According to Faithwire:

The charity certainly works to bring physical healing and benefits to the women who participate in the program — assisting them with everything from teaching basic home skills to restoring parental rights — but the emotional and spiritual restoration takes time.

Risdal likens it to "metamorphosis" and the process of a caterpillar developing into a butterfly:

“People talk about the caterpillar and they talk about the butterfly,” she said, “but they forget about that period in the cocoon. It had to be painful, but it was also key. That transformation is what has to happen, you can’t just give the caterpillar butterfly wings and expect it to fly.”

There are quite a few considerations related to this movement.  One is that when a person comes to Christ, transformation is spontaneous in the heart, and that is sustained through practice and spiritual growth.  Each of us has been transformed by the power of Christ, and we have to make sure the truth of what has occurred within permeates every area of our lives.  We acknowledge the sufficiency of God's Word.

I think there is a powerful lesson about minimalism here, as well: we can depend on the Lord to meet our needs, and our attempt to live outside our means may be a source of stress and anxiety and can distract us spiritually.  Perhaps a scaling back or reevaluation can enable us to experience more of Him.  These ladies are living in a state of having their physical needs met at Acres of Hope, and that gives then the opportunity to discover God's freedom.