I’m reaching back
a few years and pulling this piece forward. We’re never able to outgive the
Lord, but this experience was especially sweet.
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 we
will 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
small 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 outgive 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.
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 God always outgives us.
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. I came
right home and started preparing for the next opportunity to minister in Jesus’
name.
Such a blessing.