Hope

Stored Up

Years ago when I took the StrengthsFinder® test, I discovered that one of my “signature strengths” was “input.” Basically this meant that I was a collector – of facts, trinkets and whatever else I set my fancy on. My parents no doubt already knew this as, at different times in my life, they had to contend with my shell collection, my rock collection, and my collection of key chains. As I grew older, my “collections” turned into file folders of quotations  & articles, boxes of pictures, a penchant for saving small artifacts from significant times in my life, and mounds and mounds of books. Collections were my way of setting things aside, in case I might need them at some other point in my life.

The challenge with collections, however, is that they must be stored, and storage is limited. Additionally while the articles are filed away, or the key chains are in their container, it may seem as if they serve no useful purpose. They are simply waiting to be accessed, waiting for when they are needed.

Similarly, God is a collector of sorts. However, what He’s storing far exceeds anything that we can put away. God is storing up blessings for His people (Ps. 31:19). He is gathering up good things, setting them aside for the day that they are needed. Unlike me, God has no limits to how much He can collect. He gathers them, and He apportions them for just the right moment. He knows that in a year we will need some encouragement. He knows that tomorrow we will need a comforting word from a friend. And He waits; storing up those blessings, eager to pour them out on His children.

This can provide such comfort to us. If we are going through a tough time, we know that God has blessings that He is waiting to give us, when He knows that they will have their greatest effect. If we are the recipient of His gifts, we can thank Him for His generosity in preparing those blessings in advance. And regardless of our circumstances, all His children can eagerly look forward to the blessings He has in store for us in His Kingdom.

I can tell you from personal experience that storing things only makes sense if one day they will serve some useful purpose. With God, we can be confident that whatever He has in store, He will use – for His glory and our good.

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Growth

Generous To A Fault

Every once in a while I’ll hear someone remark that somebody they know is “generous to a fault.” It’s always been a funny colloquialism to me because I never understood where the line between “generous” and “too generous” was. Moreover, who gets to determine it?  It seemed that more often than not the line was drawn by the person making the remark when they felt that their friend’s or family member’s generosity was somehow going to impinge on their comfort, even if the infraction was just their feeling of guilt for not being quite as giving. Or worse yet, when they felt like there would be less generosity to benefit them.

The Bible, however,  draws a very different line when it comes to generosity.  It tells us that if “someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.” (Matthew 5:40). Most people don’t give beyond what’s asked to their friends, let alone to their adversary who is taking them to court. The next verse says that if someone forces us to walk one mile with them, we should go with them two, which is not the usual response when we are being cajoled into action. Scripture also tells us that we should “lend, expecting nothing in return” (Luke 6:35), an unheard of mentality in a society of interest rates and quid pro quo. We are commanded to give to those in need (Romans 12:13), and to be generous when we give (I Timothy 6:18). Giving too much doesn’t seem to be much of a concern in God’s Word.

But there was at least one time where it was a concern. In Exodus 36:6-7 Moses had to tell the people to stop giving. In fact, Scripture tells us that he had to “restrain” them from being too generous. However it wasn’t for the reason that we normally find fault with another’s generosity. It was because they had met the need in abundance. The Israelites had so graciously given of their possessions that there was no longer a need for any more of their gifts. They so wanted to participate in what God was doing that they were willing to go to great personal expense and sacrifice in order to do so. Until they had to be stopped.

Wouldn’t it be great if the same could be said of us? What if when someone accused us of being “too generous” it meant that we wanted to give beyond what the need was? What would the world say if we were so eager to participate in the work of God that that people had to restrain us from giving in excess of the problem’s capacity? What if we gave even when there was no longer a deficiency?

Who would find fault with that?

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