Well, then. Let’s just jump right in, shall we?
A few years ago, while pregnant, I sunk deep into the essential oil “movement,” and joined an MLM essential oil company. I have had serious migraines for the last four years, sleepless nights for over ten years, and essential oils were the only thing that helped. They were and are effective, and I, to this day, trust the company that I bought them from.
The problem was that the marketing for this particular company was powerful, and I fell for it. Did I “need” more bottles of oil every month? Sometimes. But more often, not. Spending money to “make money?” Nope. I didn’t need that. People sharing screenshots of how much money they made in a month? I didn’t need the idol of wealth, prancing before my eyes at every turn.
When Michael and I actively began raising support for our ministry last March, we sat down and talked about our finances, because we needed to create a budget. Also, because it’s just a healthy thing to do. But I came away from the conversation, turned off the monthly ordering for essential oils, and never purchased again. Because you know what? I had enough.
In my time buying essential oils every month, being exposed to (and falling for) marketing that cried “just add one more bottle so you can earn three bottles of free oils this month!” I had amassed a stockpile that we’re still working through. Also, I had enough of worshipping the false god of health, the false god of wealth, the idea that whatever I did, I could control our future financial security by buying bottles of concentrated plant substances every month. I knew that for me, I’d have to cut the purchase completely out of my life for a very long time, get out of the facebook groups (or put them on invisible), and just exist.
Did it hurt when the next month’s order didn’t come? Nope. Because I still had bottles stored up.
Do we believe that homeopathic remedies can be effective methodologies for treating symptoms of illness? You better believe it. (But we also don’t hesitate to visit our physician when the need arises once every couple of years or so.) Do we still use and love essential oils and healthy products? Absolutely.
But I refuse to sell them anymore, because of the siren call of the god of wealth. You see, especially as a person who was raising support for a ministry who had to trust in God for provision, I could not hold this idea of wealth from a “side gig” in high esteem. I needed to trust God wholly or not at all.
And so I chose to give that to Him. Because the God that I serve is the God who can heal if He chooses to, the God that gives ultimate security and provision.