Generosity

in charitable work we find it yields high returns. We may have to wait for the reward of our investment to come back to us, but come back it will.

Chuck Swindoll tells a story about his time in the Marine Corps. His barracks mate was a young guy who made it clear he wanted nothing of religion: “Don’t cram that stuff down my throat, OK?” Chuck was involved in a Scripture memory program and asked his Marine buddy to help him review his verses. He was told, “I’ll help you with the words, Chuck, but I ain’t interested in being some kind of monk!” This Marine went along with the plan--he listened, corrected Chuck, even encouraged him, but there was never a glimmer of interest…until 25 years later. Chuck got a phone call one day. “Hey Chuck, this is Eddie, your old bunk buddy in Okinawa. I’m a Christian thanks to you. Remember the verses we worked on? It worked!”

Jesus commended a poor woman who gave to the temple two “mites”, an insignificant amount, yet Her giving received special notice from God. We don’t give to gain favor from God; we certainly don’t do it to get to Heaven. We give because we can’t help ourselves; we’re grateful for all God has done, and we want to give, cheerfully.

We need to keep from limiting our charity; verse 2 says to “give portions to seven, eight”, whatever is needed. 7 is the Hebrew number of completeness; 8 goes one step further. Giving becomes habit, a way of life--in good times and times of disaster. We don’t wait for an earthquake or flood--we give regularly. In verse 3 our kindness is compared to clouds swelling with rain, the natural outflow of a full life. We empty ourselves again and again. Our lives are full with God’s blessings, and we in turn shower others with our bounty. We don’t know what disasters may come upon the land--in other words, this could be our last day, so we’re benevolent.

Solomon uses a symbol of trees falling to the south or north in verse 3. Whatever direction a tree falls, that is where it is meant to be, according to God’s providence. In the same way, we are placed where God wants us, for His purpose. Things don’t happen by accident. The people Solomon is writing to are struggling with causality; they see life as meaningless: Does anything matter in life? As people of faith, we accept God’s will and we try to bloom where we are planted.

Sometimes we lack faith, and hesitate to act. Verse 4 cautions that we lose out by waiting for the perfect time and occasion to proceed. Waiting for perfect conditions can keep us from growing, and failure to get things done. Time and events wait for no one. Procrastination is the thief of time. Faith means trusting God, especially when His timing disagrees with ours.

One thing we eventually discover about life is just how little we really know. We frequently are baffled over what God does in His world, and why, and we have no control over His activity. Verse 5 reminds us how we don’t know the path of the wind, nor can we comprehend the mystery of birth. We don’t need to know all the answers to life’s mysteries. We marvel at Creation and are humbled by all that God has wrought. The winds are directed by His command. Until God takes us home we will not grasp the mystery at work in all He does.

God expects us to continue sowing our seed, verse 6. We can’t foresee whether our efforts will be fruitful,