We American Christians love our homes. They are our refuge away from the outside world and the storms of life. Just open the door, walk inside, close the door; and there you are, in your own private castle.
This is the one piece of real estate where you can do what you want, when you want, with whom you want and how you want to do it, without any other eyes or ears checking on you.
But what if?
Today, the American economy is teetering on the edge of calamity with an overwhelming debt load crushing the life out of it. And at the same time, our political Mad Hatters, not being satisfied, are adding more and more debt each week.
The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave. (Proverbs 22:7)
Guess who America’s chief lenders are? China and other foreign countries.
What if these foreign nations quit buying our T-Bills and other lending notes? Then, overnight, our economy would make the Great Depression look like the golden years. Jobs would be instantly lost. Homes and cars would be repossessed. People would be desperate.
So, are you ready to invite other families to live in your home with you? Are you ready to share your food, your autos, your computers, your bathrooms, your bedrooms, your finances and your whole life (almost every intimate detail on good days and bad) for an unforeseeable amount of time…maybe even forever?
Swimming Upstream appears at this blog site on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s a little of this and a little of that, all written to encourage and exhort believers in their Christian journeys
Larry Who 
Pingback: Posts about spiritual warfare as of August 7, 2009 | PRAYtheREVOLUTION
Hey, most of us have cried out to the Lord for a return to the church of Acts. But have we forgotten the price?
And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling property and possessions and and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. (Acts 2: 44-45)
worst case scenarios: I don’t think we have to worry about sharing with families moving into our houses. We’ll be turning over our houses to certain government approved families.
Maybe God wants some Christians to trade their worldly house of refuge for Him.
jane,
It’s my opinion that we Christians will have a chance to open our homes up to other families. Part of it could be financial, in that having two families’ incomes may be the way to stay in homes.
But no matter what, living with other people under the same roof will be great Kingdom training for us Christians.
I was fast forwarding past taking people in to a fiercer crackdown in which we won’t have homes to share, should the deterioration go that far before the taking of the Church.
jane,
One of the things about being prophetic is that we know in part and prophesy in part. With that in mind, and knowing I could be wrong, I think we are going to have a period of grace to prepare for the time you are talking about.
And I believe in this period of grace (or preparation) we will see families living together. Oh my! There is nothing like living with other Christians on a 24/7 basis to remove our rough edges.
The Gaither Vocal Band has a song about “steel on steel” that pretty cute.
I don’t think we can specifically prepare for something so drastic–but we can prayerfully allow God to move in us so we hear His voice. And if I’ve learned to heart Him, I’m believing I’ll be able to respond in dire circumstances. I don’t see another way.
Solveig,
Honey and I had people living with us two out of the first three years that we were married. The experiences were life-changing for me.
If you are like me, you enjoy your privacy. You like to do things a certain way. You may have a favorite chair or TV program, but all of this goes out the window when others live with you. After all, we are called to be good hosts and servants.
I would suggest if you have not ever had people, other than relatives, living with you that you begin asking the Lord to change your heart now. It will save time if you ever have people move in. Trust me on this.
As for me, the Lord had a field day pointing out my issues until finally I laid myself on the cross and said, “Kill me God.”
And He answered that prayer.
We’ve had people other than family live with us on two occasions. The first was about 30 years ago when my husband returned to college. We functioned as a halfway house for girls about to be released from a penal institution. At the time we had three young children of our own and serving in that way was one of the things we did for money. We had a total of four girls over a five month period. The seconed occurred about 15 years ago when a friend needed to get away from an abusive husband. She was also with us about 3 months. Although she was and is a dear friend, it was a time of upheaval and stress for her–and that wasn’t easy, either.
But I agree that allowing others to invade your personal space can’t be understood unless you’ve lived it. I also think it might have been just as difficult had the girls been emotionally healthy and had our friend not been oppressed. In fact, I feel the only preparation is allowing God to intrude on a regular basis. In normal day-to-day living, only He has the right and that’s how we learn to release the things and the space and the “freedoms” we hold on to.
Solveig,
Amen.
What’s funny is that the people who lived with us always ended up being where I liked to spend time alone with the Lord. So, I was upset with them about that.
Sounds silly, right?
I’m already praying about dying to all of my quirks now.