Don’t Worry if it Doesn’t Add Up
No need to dust off the abacus or pull that old graphing calculator out from the back of your desk drawer, because God’s math does not add up and cannot be fully understood.
Friends of mine lived for about 7 years in what many would deem a tiny home in a less-safe and less-convenient part of the city in an effort to live within their means and pay off debts (which they did successfully!). Their family’s grown over time, and they knew last autumn something would have to happen in their housing situation.
No pay raise came. They didn’t play the lottery. And no one came along to miraculously offer them more money than their home was worth. Yet God responded to their need by orchestrating the discovery of a home in foreclosure, a buyer for their existing home, loved ones committed to helping them remodel the new home, and VOILA! – a home that’s well over twice the size of their previous one, in a safe and prime location…all for about the same monthly mortgage payment.
Reviewing the circumstances, one would think it’s unlikely their mortgage payment could provide such a great home. We’d also say it seems unlikely 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fish could feed a crowd of 5,000 people, wouldn’t we? If there’s a gap in your life between what you have and what you need, place ALL you have in God’s capable hands – and wait for the multiplication to begin!
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This is a great illustration Dana
This is more than the return on giving, but also an act of patience. You must become a receiving end…you must be patient and just wait. Wait with love, prayerfulness, gratitude–gratitude for that which as already happened, and patience for that which is going to happen. Ordinarily the human mind does just the opposite. It is always grumbling for that which has not happened, and it is always to impatient for it to happen. It is always complaining, never grateful. It is always desiring, and never creating the capacity to receive. A desire is futile if you don't have the capacity to receive. A truth that I had learned from a great teacher.
Yes, NASAcrew – I agree. My friends were very patient! Waiting is certainly a spiritual discipline.
We love you both!
Boy Dana I needed to hear that! Good measure pressed down shaken together running over! NASAcrew great words "creating the capacity to receive through gratitude" that enlarged my heart. Thanks!
My gap seems to be my own personal ability to do what God is calling me to do, and what miraculous ability I need to accomplish it. Thanks for this post. Getting to witness this couple first hand has been a blessing to me! However one seems to overlook or forget the miracles that happen right in front of them. Which is what I have done, thanks for the reminder!
Very good illustration!