Recently the Lord has been teaching me about generosity in abundance. This month I’m in Accra, Ghana working with City of Refuge Ministries, an organization focused on preventing, intervening and restoring children sold into human trafficking.
There is a special custom here that if you are eating and you see someone who is not, you simply ask them to join by stating “you’re invited”. A simple, yet friendly gesture of generosity to not only pull up a chair and share a meal time with them, but to actually share half of their food as well.
I’ve been “invited” several times during my stay here so far. I don’t know about you but when I’m eating I can get a bit possessive of my food. Especially on the race when I’m not so sure when (or more importantly what) my next meal will be…So when I realized these small children had better sharing skills than I do, I had a small (read large) gut check.
God has been gently reminding me that what’s mine is not truly mine. It was never mine to begin with. Instead the Lord has simply loaned me a few things until my time comes. Then God pointed me to the story of Hannah, Samuel’s mother. I think Hannah is sometimes overlooked, but to me, she has one of the most important roles. Although barren, Hannah prays to God to send her a child. Before God has even answered her request, Hannah promises that she will give the child to the Lord all the days of his life.
Bold move Hannah.
Yearning for a child she is not even supposed to have and she is already willing to give this gift back to the person it truly belongs to, God.
Are you willing to give up something you desperately want, something you haven’t even had the opportunity to enjoy yet? I think I can speak for most of us when I say I probably would not be the first to raise my hand for that one.
Each time one of these young kids is willing to give up half of their meal in order to see the happiness of those around them, I’m reminded of God’s abundant generosity towards us. Because we all know that God never does something half-heartedly. Instead He gives more than we could ever expect or request. Take the story of when Jesus turns the water into wine at the wedding for example. Not only does Jesus provide more wine than is needed, He provides the choicest wine, the wine usually given at the beginning of an event. Or when God not only promises the Israelites land to call their own, but land overflowing with milk and honey.
So in God’s abundance, are we willingly to give it all back to Him? I think it’s a little easier to comprehend when we begin walking in the wisdom that everything we have is only because of our most generous King. What’s ours is truly His and He delights when we share His gifts with those around us. I’m thankful for a God who says “you’re invited” time and time again.
