I Give Up
2 Corinthians 9:6-11
A couple of years ago, we took our kids to a pool party. At the time, both boys were a bit timid about playing in the water (that’s what you get for living in Oregon). It made me sad to watch them cling to the side of the kiddie pool, while other kids swam and played games in the water. Eventually I talked to my older son and told him, “You don’t need to be afraid. If you don’t get over your fear, you won’t have the freedom to enjoy all the fun that you can have in the water.” As soon as I said it, I realized that this is what fear does to us – it enslaves us. It keeps us from having the freedom to do things that will bring us pleasure.
Generosity will bring us pleasure. As Jeff shared a couple of weeks ago, studies show that generous people are happier than those who hoard. If we freely give to those who are in need, it will bring us greater joy. But often we’re not generous because we are trapped by fear. If we give to others, will we still be taken care of? Will we have enough to meet our own needs? Will we have to give up things to which we’ve grown accustomed? These questions get into our heads and they bring a paralyzing fear upon us. We become trapped by this fear and we are not free to be generous.
How can we be free of these (seemingly legitimate) fears, so that we can generously give to those in need? How do we get untrapped from the fears that enslave us?
Pastor Dan
I too used to live in Oregon. 16 miles down a winding dirt, river road, then had to boat across river to get to my log cabin. I was only 17 when I moved there and had a lot of fears, especially of the dark, which was not in short supply out there in the middle of the wilderness of the Sisiskyou forest.
ReplyDeleteOne night I came home from town and it was already dark. My goats needed to be milked or they would get sick.
I new I had to go out in the darkest night and milk them. So, I asked God to be with me. Although I knew there were bears around (and maybe a werewolf or more) I went out with my flashlight and milk bucket.
You know the strength I gained by trusting God that one evening could never e bought!
I learned to trust God in the most scary thing to me, which at that time was the dark.
Trust God to always be near and He truly does meet us there
I believe fear's end result is disassociated behavior, that does NOT seem Christ like at all. If you are disassociated, you simply don't care.
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