Father, May I? – Give Up – May 19th
Father, May I Give?
May 19, 2021
Give Up?
Proverbs 3:27-29, ‘Never walk away from someone who deserves help; your hand is God’s hand for that person. Don’t tell your neighbor, “Maybe some other time” or “Try me tomorrow” when the money is right there in your pocket. Don’t figure ways of taking advantage of your neighbor when he’s sitting there trusting and unsuspecting.’ (MSG)
She had never really much liked letting someone help her. No matter what the occasion. She’d much rather be of service to someone else. She didn’t really care for praise and attention either for a job well done. Better to just be done with it, move on, get along, not a big deal. It seemed complex to others; to her, it was quite simple. Her love language was acts of service for others she cared for or merely with whom she came in contact. She was generous to a fault and willfully available.
But the day came when she had her own needs. Comfort, provision, companionship, belief, help, plain and simple. She woke up and dread blanketed her like a new fallen snow. The diagnosis she received yesterday seemed like a hazy bad dream, but she knew that beyond the distant echo of words she hoped never to hear, there was a reality, and it was hers. She tried to wrap her head around information she’d rather forget and that became an oxymoron…how to remember what you wish to forget. Then the parting question reverbed on repeat. ‘Is there anyone we can call for you to help you process this, who can assist you with these results?’
The query toyed with her, played hide-n-seek like a child with her mind. How unsettling, disconcerting, really, to admit that she could think of not one person to call. She knew deep inside that had this been many people in her life faced with news as she had received, she would be the one on the tip of each of their minds to have contacted; she would be racing to be the first one to arrive as a helpmate for anyone who requested her assistance. But not one person came to mind for her and the thought was lonely and isolating.
Despondency hung her head. Would it all amount to nothing more than this moment here and now? Far simpler, wouldn’t it be, to crawl in that proverbial hole and disintegrate. Giving up became palatable, favorable, accessible, desirable. And then it hit her, arrested her, made her stop right then and there, and reevaluate.
There are many forms of giving. Giving a smile to a person you run across on a busy street or a crowded subway station may be just as valuable to that person as the one who needs a bag of groceries. Giving an hour of time to a friend who needs a listening ear and a soft shoulder is likely more necessary to that friend than the friend who you carefully chose the perfect birthday gift for. A beautiful necklace or a fancy formal wouldn’t be nearly as appreciated just this moment to her, she realized, as having the name and number of a precious person to call to help her sort through her malady, aid her in making decisions, preparing plans.
She remembered a time when she was told that she was robbing someone else of the joy they’d receive from helping her. She had pushed the comment away, had quashed that immediately by replying, ‘Of course when I need someone, you will be the first to know!’ Who had remarked to her such a thing and who had she responded to in that manner…that’s who she should be contacting right now! But for the life of her, she couldn’t recall. Slowly, she shook her head, had to admonish herself. She hadn’t meant it at all; those had just been some nice sounding words…Ha! ‘You’ll be the first to know’!
She wondered then. Was it the same with God? Maybe a thousand dollars wasn’t of nearly as much value in His hands as $25 worth of groceries or essentials to His child who had nothing if it was received from the single mom trying to put food on her own table or fill her own fuel tank to make it to work. She realized at once it was about willingness to give and to receive, to bond together, to do life together and face the ups and downs with one another. Giving up was just as difficult as giving in.
‘Mom,’ she heard herself say softly into the phone, ‘I need you. Could you come over?’
Deuteronomy 15:10-11, ‘Give freely and spontaneously. Don’t have a stingy heart. The way you handle matters like this triggers God, your God’s, blessing in everything you do, all your work and ventures. There are always going to be poor and needy people among you. So I command you: Always be generous, open purse and hands, give to your neighbors in trouble, your poor and hurting neighbors.’ (MSG)
I want to know the Father’s opinion about everything!
Won’t you JOURNEY with me this month as we ask our Father, ‘MAY I?’’
