the price is right

One of my favourite game shows growing up was The Price is Right. >Nothing beat a Saturday morning, some fancy pantsy 80's set, and the reminder of spading your pets. "C'mon down...your the next contestant!!!!" Gosh...the only thing surpassing that memory is being able to be a part of the studio audience and see Bob Barker himself, behind 2 inches of make-up - on a set that has LONG outlived its era...unfortunately!
The climax of the show for me was the showcase round. It always piqued my interest to see if the first contestant would stick with the first showcase, or gamble to see the second. Enter the dilemma...
This scenario flashed in my mind as I was driving away from my church the other day. I was just leaving from a prayer meeting/street bbq where we had been contending for God to move in our city. Not two blocks away, I felt God was asking me to give my sweater away to a girl I'd seen on my way out.
I had just gotten a killer deal on a sweet new hoodie...it was my first time wearing it out and it was comfy comfy. I should know by now not to wear new clothes to church!
Really? My new hoodie? What does that have to do with changing the city?!!!
Anna-Marie...how do you expect me to move in the city if I can't even move through you?
Ouch...
And what really impacted my thought process was the fact that He wasn't asking me to give from poverty. If affluence was reflected by the number of hoodies hanging in my closet, I'd be neck in neck with Bill Gates. What was one hoodie? I was beginning to think it was looking a little like my neighbours sheep...
I turned my car around.
What was one hoodie...

You see, most of the human beings on the planet are completely sold by what they can see and hold in their hands - that it takes a lot of convincing for them to give it all up for something they can't see. They'd rather stick with Showcase 1 than face the possibility of being disappointed with Showcase 2. Somewhere in our brains lies the misguided comprehension that nothing else could ever be better than what we are holding onto right now.
And the thing is, we get caught up in things that we no longer see people. We get distracted by the mountains of stuff that make our life convenient, or technological, or entertaining, or trendy...and are blinded to the beggars...to the needs...to the bleeding heart of God to move in a broken world. It seems funny to think that the more we have, the harder it is to share it. We feel a sense of identity with what we possess, that the opportunity to give it away without knowing what will replace it is a little daunting. But that's where God sees our obedience. Our love. Our trust.
How many of us would give the shirt off our back?
Even if it was a favourite?
Now before you go patting me on the back, the hoodie is still hanging up in my closet. I don't know what will become of it in the end, but in that moment I believe God was looking for an obedient spirit. Willingness to be a conduit of His love...His blessings.
He has poured so much wealth and prosperity in our lives. Are we willing to allow Him to use it as He needs? To be unattached to things so that we can attach others to His love and salvation?
Whether or not they are "worthy".
Whether or not we understand.
Whether or not we will ever see what one hoodie can do for a broken world...