The only thing I wanted to do was sin. I was thinking bad words, and I wanted to say them
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Bill Hybels was exhausted and furious. The well-known Christian leader had endured two delayed flights while flying from Chicago to Los Angeles, sat on runways in packed planes for six hours and then his connecting flight had been cancelled.
Finally, he was able to board and collapsed into his seat. His hand luggage was on his lap because there was no room in the overhead lockers or under the seats. Just as the plane was ready to back away from the boarding gate he noticed a woman rushing through the door and stumbling down the aisle. She was carrying an assortment of bags that were spilling all over the place, but that was the least of her problems. What made her situation nearly impossible was that she had one eye literally sewn shut, and she seemed to be unable to read her seat number with her other eye. The flight attendants were nowhere to be seen. Still fuming and feeling sorry for himself Hybels felt God whisper in his ear; Bill, I know this has not been one of your good days. Youve missed flights, and waited, and stood in queues, and youve hated it . But now youve got a chance to make it a better day by getting out of your seat and showing kindness to a desperate woman. I wont make you do it, but I think youll be pleasantly surprised if you do.
Part of me was saying, I dont think so. Im not in the mood. But another part of me was saying, Maybe my mood has nothing to do with it. Maybe I should just do it. So he got up, walked down the aisle and asked the woman if he could help her find her seat. Discovering that she could speak very little English he picked up her bags that had fallen on the floor, showed her to her seat, helped her stow away her luggage, took off her coat and made sure she got buckled in. Then he returned to his seat.
May I be mystical for a moment? he writes. When I sat down in my seat, a wave of warmth and well-being flowed through me. The frustration and anxiety that had so filled me for most of the day started to dissipate. I felt like my parched, dusty soul had just been washed by a warm summer rain. For the first time in almost eighteen hours, I felt good.1
Proverbs 11:25 is true:
A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.
King Solomon borrowed these words from an agricultural image and literally they are; he who waters shall himself be watered. He may have been thinking of a common practice amongst farmers. During the rainy seasons when the rivers overflowed, some of the farmers who farmed close to the river banks diverted water into their large reservoirs. Then, during times of drought, the generous farmer would help his neighbours who didnt have reservoirs and were in desperate need for water. He would carefully open up his sluice gate and channel life-giving water into his neighbours fields. But the next time there was a drought and it so happened that a generous farmer – for whatever reason – had little or no water for himself; the neighbouring farmers (who by this time would have built reservoirs) would return his kindness by supplying him with water.
Its not about giving to get
Its not a matter of donating R100 so that God will return an equal or larger amount. This proverb doesnt explain what the generous receive but such people end up better off not necessarily financially or materially, but they experience something that is far deeper than happiness. Solomon says a generous man will prosper. Prosperity to the Hebrew mind was not about money or material goods but a prosperity of the spirit, the mind, and the emotions.
In 1 Kings we read the story of the prophet Elijah and a widow. Elijah was hiding from the wicked king Ahab and God instructs him to go to the city of Zarephath. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food, God said. When Elijah arrives he finds the widow collecting firewood and he asks her to bring him some water and bread. She responds, As surely as the LORD your God lives, I dont have any breadonly a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat itand die (1Kings 17:9-12).
Perhaps life had become too difficult for the widow and she had given up. It was physically impossible for her to feed two people, let alone three, on that small amount of food. Elijah says to her, Dont be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. Can you imagine her reaction? I dont even have enough for myself and my son. How can I give to you as well? But Elijah continued; For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain on the land. So the widow left and did as Elijah told her. The end result was that there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah (verses 13-16).
Morning and evening, day in and day out, when the widow looked into the bowl and jar she found flour and oil. Proverbs 11:17 informs us that Your own soul is nourished when you are kind (NLT). This was not just about her spirit benefiting but her whole life was nourished. She gave from her little and her little multiplied. And just in case we dont get the lesson: The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller2 (Proverbs 11:24). Our Lord Jesus certainly knew this as he said, Give away your life; youll find life given back, but not merely given backgiven back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity 3(Luke 6:38. See also 2 Corinthians 9:6-15).
Have boundaries
This is not about indiscriminately performing good deeds. We need to balance generosity with discernment. We cannot respond to every human need. Proverbs 3:27 instructs us not to withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. The implication is that some people may not deserve our generosity. Perhaps they are lazy and unwilling to take responsibility for their lives. They take advantage of generosity. Have boundaries but the main point in this proverb is Do not withhold good.
What talent has God blessed you with? Do you have a little extra money? What is your spiritual gift? Hospitality? Encouragement? Why not refresh someone from your abundance? Dont be a reservoir brimmed up until the walls are ready to burst. We are blessed to become a blessing (1Peter 3:9). Ask God to show you how to be faithful conduits of his goodness and use us to refresh. Is there someone you could show generosity, kindness and compassion to this week? This may be through a prayer, an act of kindness, words of encouragement, leading someone to knowing Jesus Christ more deeply. It may be through an email, a text, a phone call, a letter or a visit.
Like the worker at the controls of a canal, open the floodgates and let the strong river of Gods grace and goodness surge through us as we give to others. Generous giving blesses others and opens us to participate more and more in what God is up to in the world. As you join God in being a channel of his love, his joy and peace is released into your life. Those who refresh others will be refreshed. Or to put it another way; God shovels it in, I shovel it out, and God has the larger shovel.
1 Hybels, Bill. Making Life Work p55.
2&3 The Message Bible