I was struck recently with the truth that our God is a God of abundance. He desires to fill us with His good gifts. He stretches out His hand to bless us. He wants us to prosper (Deut. 28:11). And we are a prosperous people. Just look around you, go into a grocery store, a home improvement box store, drive through the farmland that surrounds us – look at the Starbucks menu! We are surrounded with abundant material blessings.
The Bible often describes God’s blessings as falling rain. “The clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind.” (Job 36:28) I was told recently that we are presently in the worst drought since the 1960s. And yet we drive around town and see flowers and trees blooming. I can turn on the outside spigot and out comes water! Let’s pray for the “abundant showers” that we so desperately need, and also let’s thank God for the water we still have for drinking, and bathing, and even swimming.
How do we respond to the abundance of God? “Give and it will be given to you, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be poured into your lap.” (Luke 6:38) Our response is to give, give back, give more, give up. I am working on becoming a more generous person, not just with money or possessions, but with my thoughts about others, with my time, with prayers, with words of encouragement and support. I desire to see in myself a generosity of spirit welling up to be a blessing to others, a generosity that makes me a part of the out-flowing of God’s abundance to all those He sends my way. A small example of this was last Sunday at the youth car wash. Ten dollars seemed like a fair donation, even a good one. But I made the small decision to move from good to generous, so I gave more. I’m sure it didn’t make much difference for the bottom line, but it made a difference in my heart. I moved one small step closer to that generosity of spirit that I am seeking to live in and grow in to the praise of our Lord.
Let us rejoice in God’s abundant love for us and His desire to pour His blessings into our lives in abundance. Let us look around every day for signs of God’s abundance in our lives and respond with generosity and praise.
And…pray for rain!
About our guest blogger: Ann Shower has been a member at Servants of Christ twice. She lived here when Servants was a part of St. Michael’s and she was on the vestry when the discernment process began which led Servants to leave the Episcopal Church. Most recently she has been at Servants for the past two years. In between, an AMiA church and a very interesting time at Seacoast Church in Asheville, NC before coming back home. And she is glad to be back! Fun fact: Ann’s husband (and Beth Kirby’s dad) Ed was an Episcopal priest. Together they served parishes in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and the Diocese of Florida before retiring to North Carolina. Ed was very active in Happening and Vocare – their family’s involvement in Dynamos and Camp Araminta has historical roots!