When Our Gifts Become Obstacles to God

I’ve been doing a lot of reflection on the many Gospel passages about riches being obstacles to the kingdom of heaven. As I’ve reflected on my own gifts and “riches,” I came to an insight about these passages: Our gifts can be gateways to God, but at a point, they can become obstacles to God.

Take for example our talents. When we use our gifts well and in a balanced way, they are gateways to fruitfulness for the kingdom. We give glory to God. When we over-use them, they become distractions. They can lead to over-busyness and pull us away from God, leaving less time for prayer and relationships.

Perhaps our riches are our gifts of relationships. When we hold our relationships lightly, as gifts from God, loving people in a rightly ordered way, they are gateways to God. They are blessings of love, companionship, and encouragement. But if we cling to those relationships and make them idols, they become obstacles to God. Perhaps those relationships become our God. We look to them to give us what only God can.

Then there’s our material goods. When we live simply and purchase what we need versus everything we want, we have more to offer to others which leads us to greater generosity and closer to God. But when we over-buy and spend all we have on ourselves, our material goods become an obstacle to God. The goods become our God. 

Gifts are good things. They are blessings. But we have to hold them lightly.

In my own spiritual life, I’ve listened to the movements of my heart with my gifts. I've noticed a point at which the gift becomes held onto too tightly and becomes more consuming -- and that’s the point at which the gift becomes an obstacle to God. That’s the point at which it is impeding my relationship with God and the fruits of the Spirit from growing and flourishing in my life. That’s the point at which I have to let it go and turn to God.

I think that's the lesson of these passages. Look at your gifts - your riches - and hold them lightly. Discern how they are gateways to God, and at what point they become obstacles to God. And, don't let your "riches" impede your relationship with God and your pathway to the Kingdom.