God is a god of abundance, not a god of scarcity. Jesus reveals to us God's abundance when he offers so much bread to the people that there are twelve large baskets with leftover scraps (see John 6:5-15), and when he makes his disciples catch so many fish that their boat nearly sinks (Luke 5:1-7). God doesn't give us just enough. God gives us more than enough: more bread and fish than we can eat, more love than we dared to ask for.
God is a generous giver, but we can only see and enjoy God's generosity when we love God with all of our hearts, minds, and strength. As long as we say, "I will love you, God, but first show me your generosity," we will remain distant from God and unable to experience what God truly wants to give us, which is life and life in abundance.
Leave a COMMENT: How has God given you "more than enough"?
When I think of God's generosity I think of my kids. When we first found out that we weren't able to have biological kids I was bummed that our kids weren't going to look like us. Petty, I know. Not only has he provided us with three beautiful, healthy children - it's uncanny how much Natalie looks like me. I picture God gently laughing, saying "look what I can do!"
ReplyDeleteThanks for this. It reminds of my own life. I was devastated when I realized I would never have my own children -- but have come to see that God has used me to be available to plenty of other "children." I didn't get to give birth or raise my own, but I've gotten to love on hundreds.
ReplyDeleteGod's generosity extended down to me in many ways, namely, God was thoughtful to fill in the gaps in my life as I lacked depth in my relationships with my parents. He gave me a Christian family that provided a healthy, balanced and stable existence. While I enjoyed a rather 'normal' and 'adequate' childhood, there was little health, balance or stability that ran deep.
ReplyDeleteThrough various individuals and groups I enjoyed a Christian Family: Young Life Leaders, the church body, families I spent time with as I babysat through high school and college, living with a family for a year... countless individuals showed me what it looked like to love Jesus... it was within the inside walls of these homes that I experienced a generous dose of love and God's goodness.