As is my habit every morning, I turned the television to the news. The airwaves were filled with fear and sadness because of an unknown and unseen virus. People everywhere were afraid to leave their homes. They are afraid of strangers and even frightened to be near friends and relatives. The scene flashed to the next news story centering on suspicion, violence, destruction, looting, and hate.

If I react to the daily news about the state of the world, I would be fearful, joyless, angry, and hateful. That isn’t the life my Heavenly Father intends for me. He brought to mind a passage in Luke chapter six.

Two warehouses and what am I storing in mine?

I see men and women of the world, friends and neighbors, actively creating private stockpiles in storehouses. Storehouses that will one day cease being private because they have become filled to capacity. The goods stored inside will begin to overflow into the world around.

I see two kinds of warehouse.

One is filled with daily doses of fear, anger, frustration, hurt, and hate. The owner of this warehouse doesn’t intend to cause hurt, but fills his building unintentionally by reactions to what he sees and to daily problems. Fear, insult, self-preservation, retaliation.

The other is filled with love, mercy, grace, joy, and peace. This is the warehouse most of us want. Wouldn’t we all choose to wander the halls of this building? This storehouse is filled by intention. The content of this storehouse is built by choice, beginning with the choice of belief and of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible tells us how to fill a good warehouse.
I know that when I put my faith in Jesus Christ, his Holy Spirit came to reside in me. Then the fruit of the Spirit was available to me. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. All good things to fill my warehouse. Evidently it’s possible for me to mess that gift up-or at least to neglect it—because the apostle Paul gives this command in Philippians 4:8. Think on these things: whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, anything of excellence and worthy of praise. Maybe I should put this quotation on a plaque above my warehouse door.

Navigating this world is a challenge. But we have his promise and his word to get us through it. God will take hold of our hand. He says “Do not fear; I will help you.” (Isaiah 41:13)

God provides in abundance—every good and perfect gift. (James 1:17) When my warehouse is full to overflowing, this is what I want raining down on the world around me.



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