RECEIVERS AND GIVERS
Recipientes y Donadores
by
Mary Hunt Webb
Posted Tuesday, September 29, 2020
Something that appears to be merely decorative can be a means for teaching a lesson. [Photographer: Goran Horvat. Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com.]
Although social isolation has become a means of preventing the spread of disease, there has also been an emphasis lately on looking out for the needs of senior citizens and others. However, sometimes it's not the recipient that needs help but it's the provider that needs the opportunity to feel useful.
The Lord taught me this lesson a few years ago after I spoke to a women's group. When the event was over and many had gone home, I was helping the chairwoman and other ladies to clean up and pack things away. The chairwoman, standing across a table from me, offered me the centerpiece from that table. I started to politely decline the offer when the lady standing beside me gently told me that to refuse the gift was to deny the giver the blessings and rewards of giving.
Ouch! I remembered that Luke 6:38 says, "Give and it shall be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over." (KJV)
In order for the chairwoman to receive future blessings, I accepted the centerpiece and said, "Thank you! It's lovely!"
Later, the Lord seemed to have more to teach me about the needs of those that give.
In an instance where I thought I was helping a Christian group in another part of the state, it turned out that one of the ladies would be bearing some expense for my participation. My first reaction was to withdraw immediately, but the Lord brought me up short.
"She wants to do this," He told me. "To withdraw now would insult her. She needs to feel that she can do something to repay you for what you are doing for her group. She would do it for anyone who helps that organization. If it wasn't you, it would be someone else."
"Okay, Lord. I think I'm starting to understand. When I receive help, it's not always because I need assistance. Sometimes it's because the other person needs to express gratitude."
"Yes," He said, "and it's not always to you that the gratitude is being expressed. Sometimes it's to Me!"
"Oh!"
That was a revelation to me! While it may appear that we are the recipients, that's not always true. Sometimes we are merely the means by which the giver expresses thankfulness to the Lord.
In such an instance, the best thing we can do is to accept and say, "Thank you", even when we don't need any help at all. It's not our need but his or hers that is of primary importance. Thus, we can help the other person by being willing to be helped.
At times, a person may offer to help in order to receive much needed praise instead of the usual criticism that he or she may hear on the job or at home. A simple, reply of, "You're so thoughtful!" can go a long way toward building up a battered self-esteem.
Offers of assistance can open the way to tell someone about Jesus. Acceptance can also provide the opportunity to help a new or younger believer in his/her Christian growth. What might seem like accepting help may actually be the means to provide it for someone else.
As my dear mother used to say, "The Lord works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform!"
We can be part of His wonderful mysterious work when we set our pride aside.
BIBLE VERSE USED IN THIS POSTING
Luke 6:38 — Give and it shall be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. (KJV)
Lucas 6:38 — Dad, y se os dará; medida buena, apretada, emecida y rebosando darán en vuestro regazo; porque con la misma medida con que medís, os volverán a medir. (Reina-Valera 1960)
When I accept someone's assistance or gift, I open the way for that person to receive a blessing from the Lord. [Photographer: DFNatureAwed. Photo courtesy of Stockvault.net.]
