[Discoveries] 12-13-08 Need and gifts -- 2 Corinthians 9:15

[Inspiration in Your Inbox]

/*For those struggling financially ...*/
/*There may be a temptation to follow various get-rich-quick schemes. 
Most of these things are candy-coated poison. Yes, I have talked to 
people who make multiple thousands of dollars a day. (One guy made 
$500,000 a day.) But making that kind of money requires you to build a 
certain kind of business foundation that God may or may not be calling 
you to build. Focus rather on how you can use the skills God has given 
you to meet a legitimate need. If something smells fishy, it probably is.*/

/*Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! -- 2 Corinthians 9:15*/

[Note: I wrote this five years ago, when we were going through a 
particularly rough time financially.]

Do any of us really want to be needy? I don't. I want to have a bumper 
crop of health and prosperity so I have plenty to give and plenty to keep.

But all of us will be needy at different times. As we fall through 
successive layers of need, what is really in our hearts comes to the 
surface.

Here's what was in mine:

Self-doubt. Dwight, have you been a fool? You say you've been hearing 
from God, but if you were really hearing from God you wouldn't be in 
such a mess.

Pride and shame. What's wrong with my contribution to my world? I'm a 
man. I'm a smart man. I don't want anybody paying my way. I want to pay 
my own way.

God doubt. Okay, God, where are You? I keep telling people You are going 
to show up. Where are You? Deep down inside, are You really aloof and 
cruel? Do You really enjoy seeing Your children squirm?

Then, like a spring day when you walk outside and flowers are suddenly 
in bloom, expressions of God's heart show up. Someone shows up at the 
door with bag after bag of groceries. I get a call to stop by the church 
because someone has left a box of Christmas presents for our children, 
cash for our family. Someone else sends an anonymous money order. 
Another writes a check. Still another trades in his Christmas gift to 
give us the money to make our annual trip to Ohio to see my wife's family.

But it really hit me when I was in the Dollar store last night with my 
four kids. I went there because I wanted them to each be able to buy a 
gift for their mother. But I felt like God was saying, "Let them each 
buy a gift for every member of the family. It will be okay, you'll see." 
So I let them do it, even though I didn't have enough money with me to 
pay for all that. While I was there, I ran into an old friend. We 
chatted for a few minutes and then she went back to her shopping. As I 
was standing in the checkout line, she walked by, quickly pressed a 
couple folded bills into my hand, and disappeared. I know that she 
doesn't have a lot of money. But there it was, enough money to pay for 
everything in my cart.

I think it was at this point that I finally began to understand the 
heart of God. We are neither friendless nor alone. The sacrifice and 
kindness of others made God's heart real to me -- His heart full of 
kindness, good humor and care. For those who gave, I thank you, if you 
are reading this, and I pray that all you gave will return to you a 
thousand times. But I know that whenever we give, we are instantly 
richer, because we have entered into the heart of God.

Be encouraged!
Dwight

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