What God Has To Give To You // Giving & Receivingনমুনা

I Have So Much More to Give You

In a world that tells you to take what is offered to you—and hold on to what you have; that nothing you have is enough—it is difficult to not live in fear. You are being taught a mindset of scarcity—that there is a limit to resources, a limit to what is available to you. So you believe you had better hold onto what you have. It might be taken from you. It might be stolen from your very hands. All the things you worked so hard for. All the things you’re owed. All the things you feel you deserve. And this mindset limits your freedom, your ability to receive joy and live unencumbered by the rules of a world that only wants to tear you down.

But not Me. I do not tear you down. I have so much for you. And I want to show you how to release the fear you have about not having enough resources. I am enough for you. I have everything you need.

It is time to release from your grip now all the fear about what you believe you lack. From intelligence to appearance to material wealth to relationships, what are you believing I don’t provide? How are you believing it is not enough? 

From this attitude of scarcity comes an attitude of withholding. When you believe you are not enough, you try to look everywhere for what you believe you have not received. And that is when you don’t offer what you have been given to others. You don’t believe you’re smart enough—so you don’t offer your opinions. You don’t believe you are rich enough, so you don’t offer your material resources to others. You don’t believe you are interesting enough, so you don’t initiate contact with other people. Your warped ideas about who you are and what you have been given is robbing you of the rich, full life I want to give you. 

When you live thinking you do not measure up—that everything you are and everything you have is lacking, you bury your talents in the ground. You do not trust Me or love Me. You forget that all I am is yours and all you are is mine. You are not alone here, son, daughter. You have been given much. It is time to bring what I’ve given you into the light.

So trust Me. Watch what I do with what you give. You trust Me with much, and much will be given to you in return. You trust me with little, you are squandering Life that comes from faith, faith in Me—faith in my resources and resourcefulness more than your own. Do you remember what I did with the one loaf and the seven fish in the face of thousands of hungry people? I fed them. I turned what was given to Me into more than enough for them. I more than satisfied their hunger. So, trust Me. Trust Me to come through for you. Trust Me with what you have been given. Trust Me with your provision. Trust Me with your gifts, your time, your money, your talents. All that you have is just a starting point. I have so much more to give you. And I want to bless you over and over and over again. 

What is your loaf? What is your fish? Hand over your basket. Watch what I do when I hand it back.

Exercise:

The apostle Paul gave us a great picture of trust when he wrote about the church in Macedonia in 2 Corinthians  chapter 8. And the picture is striking. And challenging. It sure challenges Jennifer and me. Because Paul kind of called out the Corinthians. No, I shouldn’t say “called out.” He called them up—up into a new kind of life, a better way of living. He called the Corinthians into God’s way of thinking. He called them out of a scarcity mindset and into a mindset of abundance. He called the Corinthians into a world where things like the miracle of loaves and fishes actually happen.

And we want to live in that kind of world.

Here, Paul wrote this: “For even during a season of severe difficulty and tremendous suffering, [the Macedonian church] became even more filled with joy. From the depths of their extreme poverty, super-abundant joy overflowed into an act of extravagant generosity. For I can verify that they spontaneously gave, not only according to their means but far beyond what they could afford” (2 Corinthians 8:2-3).

The Macedonians were dealing with difficult circumstances themselves—persecution and poverty—circumstances that would make the rest of us pull in, protect ourselves, hold tightly to what we do have and make sure we have enough to get us through the difficult time. For most of us, if we found ourselves in those kinds of circumstances, giving and helping would probably fall by the wayside. But the Macedonians did something different. They gave anyway; they gave above and beyond. They showed radical trust and gave with radical generosity.

And here’s what blows Jennifer and me away most: Not only did the Macedonians give and give generously. Paul wrote that they “actually begged . . . for the privilege of sharing in this ministry.” That is from 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verses 4-5. They begged for the privilege of helping people in need, people who were hurting and lost and confused.