Why
is it when we single-mindedly set our hearts on giving, we come away feeling as
if we’ve only received?
I
spent a recent weekend in ministry with a group of folks in a town nestled among the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Arriving
a little nervous and shaky because of the tasks before me, I found God already
there. So, mostly what I tried to do was just stay out of His way, so He could
do what only He does.
I
found myself endeared to people I’d only known for hours, because when we are
in Christ, we are family. We can share deeply from our hearts because we trust
the relationship in Him.
When
we part, it’s like saying goodbye to those we’ve known for years. But the good
news is that we shall meet again, perhaps not in this world, but someday. Instead
of feeling tired, I felt energized.
So,
I’m back to the economy of things. How is it that in pouring out, we only have
the sense of being filled up?
I
grew up in a little town, which prospered during the middle part of the last century
in part due to the work of R. G. Letourneau who was often dubbed, “God’s
businessman.” He manufactured earth-moving equipment and built a plant in my
hometown in 1938. As the nation moved into the Second World War, according to
sources, Letourneau’s factories supplied 70% of the earth moving equipment used
during the war.
It’s reported that, “As a multi-millionaire, Letourneau gave 90% of his profit to
God's work and kept only 10% for himself…Letourneau said that the money came in
faster than he could give it away. Letourneau was convinced he could not
out-give God. ‘I shovel it out,’ he would say, ‘and God shovels it back, but
God has a bigger shovel.’”
Letourneau’s
legacy in my hometown is not just in the financial realm, but his spiritual
legacy continues to this day with many works he had a part in still flourishing decades later.
You
see, what is true in the physical is also true in the spiritual. When we shovel
out, God shovels back in an even bigger way.
In
Luke 6:38, Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure,
pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.
For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
We
never give to get, but the principle stands that it's impossible to outgive God.
This
week, I’ve been living in a sort of afterglow of all God did over the weekend, and
as earlier followers of Jesus did, I’ve “rehearsed all that God” accomplished. Came
right home and started preparing for the next opportunity to minister in Jesus’
name.
If
you want to know more about about R. G. Letourneau you may go here.