The sixty-year-old body of Timothy Henry Gray was found under a Wyoming overpass two days after Christmas in 2012. There was no sign of foul play. No indication of a crime or mischief. A homeless cowboy who had died of hypothermia, Gray was a victim of bad breaks and bad luck.

Except for this detail: he stood to inherit millions of dollars.

Gray’s great-grandfather was a wealthy copper miner, railroad builder, and the founder of a small Nevada town you might have heard of: Las Vegas. His fortune was passed down to his daughter, Huguette. She died in 2011 at the age of 104.

Huguette left a $300 million fortune. At the time of Gray’s death, the execution of the will was tied up in court. As things turned out, the man found dead under the railroad overpass wasn’t poor after all. He may have been worth $19 million.1

How does the heir to a fortune die like a pauper? Surely Timothy Gray knew his family history. Was he in touch with his half great-aunt? Did it ever occur to him to investigate a potential inheritance?

It would occur to me! I would camp on the doorstep of my dear great-aunt. I would turn over every stone and read every document. Wouldn’t you? We’d make it our aim to access our inheritance, wouldn’t we?

But do we?

Let’s talk about yours. Glistening in the jewel box of God’s promises to you is a guarantee of your inheritance: you are an heir—an heir of God and coheir with Christ (Rom. 8:17).

You aren’t merely a slave, servant, or saint of God. No, you are a child of God. You have legal right to the family business and fortune of heaven. The will has been executed. The courts have been satisfied. Your spiritual account has been funded. He “has blessed [you] with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3 NKJV).

You have everything you need to be everything God desires. Divine resources have been deposited in you.

Need more patience? It’s yours.

Need more joy? Ask for it.

Running low on wisdom? God has plenty. Put in your order.

Your father is rich! “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O LORD, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things” (1 Chron. 29:11 NLT).

You will never exhaust his resources. At no time does he wave away your prayer with “Come back tomorrow. I’m tired, weary, depleted.”

God is affluent! Wealthy in love, abundant in hope, overflowing in wisdom.

Max Lucado, Unshakable Hope: Building Our Lives on the Promises of God (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2018).

 

I have just completed a 7 Week Bible Study Lesson Series on Max Lucado’s book Unshakable Hope. It is available on Amazon in both print and Kindle versions, as well as part of my Good Questions Have Groups Talking Subscription plan. The idea is to invite each participant to purchase their own book.

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