Faithful Distributors

Have I mentioned I love the sacredness of the mundane? 🙂  I may not like all the lessons of daily life, but I cannot deny that they are there.  The latest one? It was delivered to me in a big cardboard box.

Last week, when Jeff and I were talking about a new commitment to giving, changing our lifestyle, etc. I was talking about clothing. It is unbelievable how much clothing we all have, amen?  I mean, I could probably go the rest of my life without buying another article of clothing and never actually “run out”.  I may not be fit for a runway, but I’d probably be just fine.  The kids obviously grow out of their clothes rather quickly, but they certainly don’t need much. So just last week I told Jeff, “Ok, I do laundry once a week, so really the kids only need enough clothes for one week.  That’s 7 outfits.  Yes, some days are dirty, so toss in one extra, but we’re talking 8-9 at the most.   I want to keep reminding myself we need less than we think.”  So, Heidi really was growing out of all her clothes, and one of the things I prayed and asked God for was winter clothes for Heidi. Dutch is fine but Heidi-boo definitely needed some, including a jacket.

Of course, in classic God-style, He provided. That night someone at church flagged me down and told me she had something for me, which turned out to be a HUGE box of hand-me-downs from her daughter. Did I mention HUGE?  I was laughing out loud at God’s provision because it was so interwoven with what He was doing in our adventure of faith.  It was like He was saying, “Worried about your kids provision? Yeah, I got them covered!”  Not only were there lots of clothes, there were FOUR jackets! I was hoping for one!

Anyway, as I sat in my living room, surrounded by little pink outfits, I of course had thanked God and was now sitting around folding and sorting sizes.  Then as clear as anything, right in the middle of folding a pink turtle-neck, I thought of the words of the four starving lepers from 2 Kings 7:9 “We are not doing right…“.  The story is long, but basically during a time of great famine,  four starving lepers (as prophesied by Elisha) discover the camp of the Syrian army, abandoned because the Lord had made the Syrians hear the sound of chariots and they had fled away in the night (vv.6-7).  So these four starving lepers stumbled upon a multitude of food and supplies, miraculously provided in the middle of a famine. And while they are in the middle of pigging out (v.8), they stop and look at each other and say, “We are not doing right … let us go and tell the king’s household.”

In other words, “It is not right that we are sitting here stuffing our faces and plundering all of this gold, while the rest of our land, our people, are starving in the middle of this famine. Yes, God miraculously provided it for us, but we do wrong to sit here and eat without sharing with others.”

God was the one who provided the food and supplies by miraculously making the Syrian army hear the voice of chariots and flee in the middle of the night.

God used the four lepers to be his discoverers. The purpose of giving them the whole camp of Syrian supplies was not so they would eat a whole army’s worth of food or take a whole army’s worth of supplies.  He showed it to them so they could be faithful distributors, so they could go tell the king’s household and therefore alert all the people to the miracle of food.

Of course as I sat in the middle of my living room sorting through piles of clothes, I thought of the leper’s words and knew what to do. I got busy and text messaged some fellow ministry-friends, who have daughters the same age, and found out their specific size and needs.  Then that night Jeff and I sorted all the clothes into piles for each of us based on size and preference.  Something so simple as hand-me-down clothes made me cry, because I knew God was showing me what He wants for his people, the people of America, who have so much.  We must be faithful distributors.

I realized that we, I, still have a such a spirit of entitlement. Even though I say everything belongs to God, I still somehow think that MY income, MY stuff, MY house first and foremost belongs to me. When I receive something, whether it’s a gift or a regular paycheck, I automatically assume that God wants me to have it all (except maybe 10%, right?).   But what if God gave us a large income so that we might bless those in need, sponsor children, fund business ventures in developing countries, the list goes on.  What if He only wanted us to keep half?  I think it might be possible for us to tithe our whole lives without ever really asking God if the other 90% was ours in the first place! He might have intended it for someone else!

So as I sat there sorting clothes, it all came into focus.  Having less is so much simpler.  As I took Heidi’s small “keep” pile up to her room, (and yes, she’ll have plenty for one week’s worth of clothes), I was so glad I didn’t have to figure out how to find space for all those other clothes.  It was easy to tuck the new items into her drawer. I didn’t have to get more hangers, didn’t have to stuff things in. A great reminder that less is more.

All it took was a little time and it was SO fun to be able to deliver clothes to the other girls.  And of course they were thrilled. I felt most blessed of all, and now all our daughters have clothes for the winter for free.  And, as I sorted the clothes, I did feel God’s sweet reminder that there were some definite advantages to being a faithful distributor–if we are the faithful distributor, we get to have first-pick of the cutest clothes! 🙂  Among other things, Heidi ended up with a polka dot rain jacket,  a puffer jacket with fur lined hood (beyond cute), and a pink sweater dress that fits her perfect. I knew that I didn’t need to feel guilty for Heidi having beautiful cute clothes–God provided them and gave me the privilege of hand-picking what she’d keep.

God bless America–It IS true that we in America are blessed.  We are blessed with the fun and honor of being faithful distributors. We get to receive so much abundance from God, and then we get the FUN and THRILL of picking where to give all the extra (and there’s so much extra!). We get to sort and delight in giving–we get the fun of seeing those joyful faces as we give out God’s resources. And…sometimes we even get to pick the cutest pink rain-jacket for ourselves.  🙂