We hold our hands—palms facing up—as the pastor reads a final blessing over the congregation. “The Lord keep you. The Lord bless you. May he be gracious towards you.” This is a blessing found in Numbers 6:24–26. I didn’t grow up in a more liturgically-focused church, but I now find these simple phrases healing. They act as a weekly reminder that God is good and, as his child, he wants good things for me: blessing, peace, a life of fullness.
As someone who grew up in a rural community in East Africa, it has been hard knowing just what a life of fullness and generosity can be. I often had so much more then my local friends (even though by American standards we lived a rather simple life) and found it easier to play hide-and-seek outside than to play in my room and have to ask my friends to please take my crayons out of their pockets before going home.
When my family moved back to the US, I suddenly learned that the clothes you wore could determine who wanted to play with you, and my family did not “waste” money on designer clothes, or even new clothes for that matter.
It’s hard not to grow up with a scarcity mindset when you go out to eat and are told to only choose from the dollar menu. With four kids and a tight budget, my parents pinched their pennies hard and shopped mostly at thrift stores. Now, as an adult, I appreciate many of the valuable lessons this type of lifestyle taught me, but I also struggle with unnecessary guilt when I go to buy something like contact lenses—something that is just for me. “Well, glasses cost less,” I tell myself. But I actually don’t like glasses very much and prefer the convenience of contacts. Is it OK to treat myself to contact lenses despite the cost?
My husband has taught me a lot about living generously. Sometimes to the extreme. We gave away our family car once to our local pastor. When my husband told me that he felt led to do this, I asked him if we were now just going to take the bus everywhere. But, thankfully, I decided to trust the process. While we worked on fixing up our car before giving it away, we started looking for a new vehicle for ourselves, even though we didn’t yet have the full amount needed to purchase one. A friend of ours also happened to be looking at getting a new vehicle and had just received some inheritance money. They bought the vehicle they wanted, but it didn’t cost the full amount of the inheritance, and they felt led to give that remaining amount to us. The amount they gave was just what we needed to purchase the vehicle we were looking at, and then we passed our fixed-up car to our pastor. I still feel so much joy when I see the pastor and his family driving around the city in the vehicle that we passed on to them.
I’ve increasingly learned to live a life with hands held open. There is so much joy in living generously. Every day our life and ministry benefits from the generosity of others, and every day I get to see amazing ripple effects of how generosity really can make a positive change in the world. Sometimes that generosity comes through a financial gift, sometimes people open their homes to us or allow us to borrow a car. People give their time and talents to help teach skills to the widows that we work with or take time out of their day to pray for our family and our ministry.
I am learning that God loves to give good gifts to his children (Matthew 7:11) and that every good and perfect gift is ultimately from him (James 1:17). I’m slowly shedding the skin of scarcity and, instead, learning to say, “Thank you, Father, for this good and perfect gift. Thank you that there is enough in the account right now for me to order some contact lenses.” I had a professor in college who always encouraged people to hold their relationships, especially dating relationships, with an open hand. We don’t own, and shouldn’t seek to control, the people in our lives. They are a gift. The same seems to be true about money. Sometimes an obsession to save every cent possible can keep you from living the gift of today. Receive what is given, but hold it with an open hand. Maybe the gift is for you, but maybe it was given to you to use it to bless someone else.
So may God be gracious today toward you, his dear daughter. May you live with open palms ready to receive his good gifts, ready to bless those who cross your path, and open and able to live a life of abundance and generosity.
What lessons have your life experiences taught you about scarcity and generosity?
