Are you living as a wealthy heir of God, or are you living the life of a poor and miserable pauper? If you are God’s child, why are you not claiming the abundant riches that your Father wants to shower upon you? God has a magnificent and ornate treasure chest of riches that He has made available only to His children. Jesus has placed the key to this chest in our hands, and He invites us to freely take all that we desire.

During our family’s tearful and difficult journey, we have discovered immeasurable treasures of grace and faith that have transformed our lives. There have been numerous times when God has asked us to walk down a path filled with pain and sorrow. However, it was while we were on this path that we fully became aware of these great treasures that we had never experienced previously.

Our son, Austin, faced many painful and life threatening procedures. During these times, I struggled with anger towards God for allowing this to happen to our son. However, when I chose to trust in God’s sovereignty, even when it didn’t make sense, I experienced the peace and grace to face another day. It wasn’t until after my husband and I began walking in grace, that we saw the great treasures that were in Austin’s life. He walked in tremendous grace and faith each day of his life and God rewarded him so many times for his faithfulness. Sometimes it was simply by giving him adequate grace to face another diagnosis, but at other times it was through an outward demonstration of God’s favor.

Austin’s Outdoor Dream Hunt With Will Graham

After Austin survived his battle with two different deadly and aggressive cancers, there was an organization (Outdoor Dream Foundation) that contacted us about taking him on a bear hunt. Austin was excited about this hunt and Outdoor Dream made it a memorable experience! They sent him a big box of camouflaged clothes and supplies from Cabela’s for Austin and my husband. He was given a rifle and they enrolled him in a safety course in preparation for the hunt. Since they found out that Billy Graham was one of Austin’s spiritual heroes, they arranged to have Billy’s grandson, Wil, to go along as Austin’s hunting buddy. It was a very special time for Austin, and God blessed him in an incredible way that weekend. Everyone was amazed that Austin not only took out a bear, but also a swan, and TWO bobcats! (Bobcats are hardly ever seen in this area, and Austin not only saw but also killed both of them in one day. I don’t believe they just happened to appear in Austin’s path.)

These types of things happened frequently in Austin’s life. It was obvious that God had His hand on Austin and was walking through the “fire” with him. He experienced the rich treasure of God’s presence throughout his difficult 16 years of life. (There are more stories of these treasures in our books, “I’m a Winner Either Way” and “Big Mountain, Bigger God.”)

We live in a sinful world and each of us experience the results of sin. The Bible says, “…rain falls on the just and unjust.” (Matt. 5:45) However, as heirs to the throne, we have been granted riches that non believers don’t have access to. Why don’t we claim these treasures for our own? If a poor and homeless person is granted access to a bank vault and told to help himself to any of the money, but he leaves without a single cent-whose fault is it when he remains penniless? It is the same way in our lives as believers. We are able to have as much of God’s rich treasures like faith, grace, and wisdom as we desire. God doesn’t say, “No, Child. I’ve already given you enough grace.” His supply never runs out or reaches a limit. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” (James 1:5) Whose fault is it if we have only meager amounts of God’s free riches that He wants to give us? Do we accurately portray WHO our Father is when we choose to live like poor beggars rather than like royalty.