Day 40 - 2 Corinthians 9:6-15

"You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion"
- 2 Corinthians 9:11a

I'm really thankful for this promise from God, as well as the challenge it comes with. There have been many times in my life when I've felt unable to be generous, whether because I was looking for a job and didn't have much money, because I was too busy to stop and care for someone, or because I felt tired and overwhelmed. In all of these circumstances and more, God has always challenged me not with what I have to give, but with what He has provided for me to be a blessing.

I felt like God was challenging me with this last night. I had been wanting to get together with a close friend for a couple of months, but because of my schedule I hadn't been able to find a time. It was his birthday yesterday, and he was having a birthday party last night that he wanted me to come to. The only problem was that my evening was pretty busy and I wasn't available until later at night. At 10:30PM I had to make the decision of whether or not to go. All kinds of reasons not to go floated through my mind: "It's 30 minutes away and it's already late!" "You've been sick all week and you need to sleep!" "You need to wake up for morning prayer tomorrow!" But even with those reasons, I felt like the Holy Spirit was urging me to go, so I went. I ended up hanging out with my friend for almost an hour; he was thankful that I came, but I can't point to a specific moment when I shared the gospel or God used me to bless him in some substantial way. However, as I was driving home, I couldn't help but feel that I had pleased God with the decision to go, and I ended up singing praise songs during my 30 minute drive back to my apartment.

So what does this have to do with what Paul is saying here? I saw a few of these truths play out in my life last night:

1. I made the decision to go in my own heart (not under compulsion), and I was able to do so cheerfully
   
2. Though I was tired, God gave me the strength to be able to go and be a blessing to people
3. God gave me the grace to sow generously, and now I'll trust that He will allow me to reap generously in the future.
4. While I had gone specifically to bless my friend, I was also able to reconnect with some other friends and find more avenues to spend time with them soon (maybe this is an added blessing I reaped from the night)

It's easy to rationalize and find reasons not to be generous, but if we never step out in faith and trust these promises (and challenges) that God gives us, we will never have the privilege of being used by Him to be a blessing, and we will never have the joy of living in obedience to His will. This is something that I hope all of us will be able to experience.

And this is the challenge before us for this weekend. As we finish off the 40 Days to Destiny today and look ahead to Sunday's offering and pledge for the Destiny Campaign, will we listen to the Holy Spirit speaking in our hearts and obey His call to give cheerfully, or will we find reasons to keep what God has provided for ourselves? Additionally, God will provide many open doors for us to serve and give in the near future, and we need to continue to grow spiritually so that we will be able to rise to the challenge and give ourselves generously to His work as He moves our church forward.

Lastly, Paul exclaims, "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" Our generous giving to God's work is not our gift to Him, it is His gift to us. I pray that as we give on Sunday, and in the future, that we will be able to praise God for the gift He has given us.