In a position to freely give

Our journey of finding the R690 000 for the Augmentation fee has placed me on a journey of my own. It fascinated me to see how the Lord provided the money. We were constantly praying, waiting and fasting for the money.  But one thing we didn’t see coming was that the Lord had already somehow provided money within Global Challenge to pay the fee. We were always expecting it to come from the outside, for someone mysterious to walk up and write us a cheque. Meanwhile the Lord had already provided what we needed- we only had to open our eyes and look inside of ourselves.

This made me think.

To me this speaks of a great lesson: of the Lord having already provided all that we need for the challenges we face. It speaks of an attitude: not always thinking that we need more from the outside but opening our eyes and seeing what the Lord has already provided for us.

In many areas Janine and I have come to realise the same. Instead of constantly thinking that we have little and that we need to always look for someone to give us what we need we’ve been realising that God has provided abundantly and we can actually come to a place of gratefully, generously and happily giving.

2 Corinthians 8: 1-15, “Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity. For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem. They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do. So we have urged Titus, who encouraged your giving in the first place, to return to you and encourage you to finish this ministry of giving. Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us—I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving. I am not commanding you to do this. But I am testing how genuine your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches. You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich. Here is my advice: It would be good for you to finish what you started a year ago. Last year you were the first who wanted to give, and you were the first to begin doing it. Now you should finish what you started. Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving. Give in proportion to what you have. Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. Of course, I don’t mean your giving should make life easy for others and hard for yourselves. I only mean that there should be some equality. Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need. Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it. In this way, things will be equal. As the Scriptures say,

“Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over,

and those who gathered only a little had enough.”

2 Corinthians 9:5-11, “So I thought I should send these brothers ahead of me to make sure the gift you promised is ready. But I want it to be a willing gift, not one given grudgingly. Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say, “They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.” For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.”

It’s about changing our mind set, seeing ourselves different- not as poor and in need but as able to give and rich. “The Lord is our Shepard, we shall not WANT… or in the NLT I have all I need”

When we count our blessings it becomes increasingly clear:

1.      1.  A car

2.       2. A place to stay

3.       3. Full bellies

4.       4. Friends

To name but just a few. We have more than enough to be able to freely and generously give away.

Psalm 4:6-7

Many people say, “Who will show us better times?”

Let your face smile on us, LORD.

You have given me greater joy

than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine.

Recently, during the community development discussions with Louis and Hannalie, we’ve also been thinking about the definition of rich and poor. While it is clear that poverty is the absence of a relationship with our Creator I’m also pondering that being rich is the ability to give and poverty the opposite. The irony is that everybody always has something to give, even if it is our very lives. But to be trapped in the space where we believe that we have nothing to contribute- that is true poverty.

Hence the popular story of Scrooge: sitting on a pile of gold, but continuing to herd more of it and always miserable. This type of thinking, even in small amounts, infiltrates all of us from time to time, and our strongly materialistic world strengthens these ideas.

I’m challenged to start seeing myself more and more as being in a position to give, or in a position where I’ve already been given all that I need to accomplish what God has set out for me to do.

In such a sense we can even go further and say that God has already given us everything we need to fully complete the building of the school. This is a position of positive faith, rather than one of desperate or needy faith. It enables us to live boldly and with courage- able to take on every challenge that proceeds our way.

The same is true in our personal lives. For God has already blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms- Ephesians 1. The biggest of these is of course the gift of Life which he bought for us on the cross.

This tremendous gift in itself should be more than enough to sustain us for the rest of our lives. What more can we possibly need when we’ve been blessed with such a gift? Why does God not provide what I’m asking? - We so often ask- when He’s already provided much more than we can ever ask for. We become so blasé about the gift of Life that we forget its immense meaning. We approach God as if he has never given us anything.

Yet, even on top of this gift he has given us increasingly more and we’ve been blessed with so many wonderful spiritual and physical gifts. So even in this I need to change my position, my vantage point in a sense, and see myself as someone who has already been given all that I need to complete the tasks ahead of me. If there are challenges at school, Christ has already given me the victory. If at Global Challenge or any other ministry we’ve already triumphed.

But even more than this, I’m in a position where I can give freely and happily all the talents God has personally endowed me with. Our talents and spiritual gifts have been given to us abundantly so that we can abundantly distribute them by using them to serve the people around us. These gifts and talents were not given to serve ourselves, but to serve those around us with it. We need not be weary of using them for they cannot run empty. Rather they come from the eternal source that never runs dry.

Christ- the fountain of life. Our eternal provider.

I therefore choose to see myself as materially and spiritually rich. Ready to give to whoever crosses my way.

Willem Taute