One of the gifts I got for Christmas was an Academy gift card.
As I was sitting at church one morning a few weeks ago, they passed the basket around and everyone put their couple bucks in. I reached into my pocket to grab some money, only to find there wasn't any. What I did have was the gift card.
So, when the basket came to me, I secretly put the gift card in.
I glanced over at the people who were collecting the baskets to see if I could see any obvious facial expressions as a result of the unusual gift, but I didn't see any.
I didn't think about it again.
That following Friday, something unusual happened.
As I was sitting outside before my A.A. meeting, a friend walked up and handed me an Academy gift card worth the same amount as the one I'd put in the basket five days before.
Immediately, I got goosebumps as all sorts of thoughts crossed my mind containing words like miracle, OMG!, and God.
I told him the story of how I didn't have any cash on me at church and had put the gift card in the basket. And now, he was giving it back to me.
I don't know if he found it as profound as I did.
We could go down the rabbit trail of a question, "Was it God or was it coincidence?"
But, I don't feel the need to. That question misses the point I think.
I don't normally lean towards the idea that if I give something I'll receive it back a few days later.
However, I do believe that our giving is an indicator of how strongly we believe God will provide us with what we need.
When we give much, we're making a statement. When we give little, we're also making a statement. When we tell everyone how much we're giving, we're making a statement as well. And, when we don't tell anyone about how much we give, we're making a statement.
The point is to give much and to not tell anybody. As much as we'd love to tell the world how awesome it is to know in our bones that God provides, it sounds like boasting to the world. It sounds really spiritual to us but really prideful to others.
The reality is, when we give much and don't tell anybody, the statement we're making to the world is enough without needing to put any words to it. We're saying, "It's because God provides that I can give abundantly."
As I was sitting at church one morning a few weeks ago, they passed the basket around and everyone put their couple bucks in. I reached into my pocket to grab some money, only to find there wasn't any. What I did have was the gift card.
So, when the basket came to me, I secretly put the gift card in.
I glanced over at the people who were collecting the baskets to see if I could see any obvious facial expressions as a result of the unusual gift, but I didn't see any.
I didn't think about it again.
That following Friday, something unusual happened.
As I was sitting outside before my A.A. meeting, a friend walked up and handed me an Academy gift card worth the same amount as the one I'd put in the basket five days before.
Immediately, I got goosebumps as all sorts of thoughts crossed my mind containing words like miracle, OMG!, and God.
I told him the story of how I didn't have any cash on me at church and had put the gift card in the basket. And now, he was giving it back to me.
I don't know if he found it as profound as I did.
We could go down the rabbit trail of a question, "Was it God or was it coincidence?"
But, I don't feel the need to. That question misses the point I think.
I don't normally lean towards the idea that if I give something I'll receive it back a few days later.
However, I do believe that our giving is an indicator of how strongly we believe God will provide us with what we need.
When we give much, we're making a statement. When we give little, we're also making a statement. When we tell everyone how much we're giving, we're making a statement as well. And, when we don't tell anyone about how much we give, we're making a statement.
The point is to give much and to not tell anybody. As much as we'd love to tell the world how awesome it is to know in our bones that God provides, it sounds like boasting to the world. It sounds really spiritual to us but really prideful to others.
The reality is, when we give much and don't tell anybody, the statement we're making to the world is enough without needing to put any words to it. We're saying, "It's because God provides that I can give abundantly."
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