On the
Giving Day, we sat in a circle and watched God’s beautiful plans unfold. Many people received specific amounts for
outreach or sentimental articles of clothing or objects that represented true sacrifice
from the giver and truly blessed the receiver.
Much of the
day was symbolic. Small objects also
often came with a message about the person’s identity in God or about what was
currently happening in their relationship with God. To say the least, there were many prayers and
tears in that room!
One of my
favorite moments was when a giver brought in a basin and towel for another
student. He spoke first about how much
it hurt him that this student was struggling with addictions and how Christ
also wanted to remind him of his love, patience, and provision. Then, he washed his feet. It was beautiful.
Amazingly,
the miraculous happened, too. One staff
member received a partly filled “preacher’s journal” and within the first few
pages, the giver had written a vision.
The staff member explained to us with tears of joy that it was the same
vision he had received years before in which God told him to wait for its
confirmation from someone else before his true ministry would begin.
Another giver
gave away his Bible to his own sadness, but a second giver immediately stood
and said that God had directed him to give his Spanish-English Bible to the
first giver days ago. We watched as one
sacrificed, just to have his sacrifice replaced with something better.
The same
thing happened with a giver who had called someone from home earlier in the week. “I’ll be giving you my guitar when I come
home,” he had explained. A second giver
(without knowing any of this) felt led to give the first giver his own guitar,
a precious gift from his father. The
first giver was not only moved by the selflessness and the provision of God but
by the fact that he had always wanted a guitar case but never had the money for
it—the new one came with a case!
One married
couple gave money to another couple for a date.
Then, a third couple gave the first couple money for a date, as
well. They were all laughing when they
saw how God had worked this together and set it in their minds separately the
week before Giving Day. All the
back-and-forth was such confirmation of how God wanted to teach us to trust in
him.
Witnessing
this personal communication with us brought forth many tears and placed us in a
position of awe before God. He wants us
to give and sacrifice so that he can actively be involved with taking care of
ALL his children’s needs. Somewhere where
you have excess, he may request your “belongings” so that he can bless those
that lack completely.
God wants us
to be in a place where we are willing to give it all away (just think of the
Rich Young Ruler passage in the Bible!), not because he wants us to lose what
we have or have “earned” but because he wants everyone to be full (in every
respect: physical, emotional, spiritual).
When we remember that all of our lives are grace after all, “giving”
something away is no longer losing something, but instead it’s just a shifting
of all of God’s belongings among his children to meet their needs (listen to “Beggars”
by Thrice). God’s plans are beautiful
and beyond our understanding.
God wants to
use giving to have us actively listen to God’s voice while also providing
healing for his people.
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