The Barn That Never Held Enough

In 2015, a Texas oil executive named Harold Hamm finalized one of the largest divorce settlements in American history — a check for $974.8 million. His ex-wife initially rejected it. Nearly a billion dollars, and someone looked at it and said, "That's not enough."

We laugh, but we understand the impulse perfectly. Every one of us has whispered some version of the same prayer: "Just a little more, and then I'll be satisfied." A bigger house. A fatter retirement account. One more promotion. We build barn after barn, and each one feels too small the moment we finish building it.

The farmer in Luke 12 had a spectacular harvest. Nothing wrong with that — God sends the rain on good soil. But notice what the man never once considers: Who else might need what's overflowing from my fields? His entire monologue is a conversation with himself. "I will tear down my barns. I will build bigger ones. I will store all my grain." Seven times he says "I" or "my." He is the only character in his own story.

That night, the Almighty speaks — and suddenly the man's future tense becomes past tense.

The tragedy wasn't his wealth. It was his imagination. He could picture larger barns but couldn't picture a single neighbor who was hungry. Jesus calls this being "rich toward yourself" but bankrupt toward God — a portfolio full of grain and a soul full of nothing.