WHAT YOU OFFER IS ENOUGH FOR GOD TO USE

WHAT YOU OFFER IS ENOUG FOR GOD TO USE
(Macon.com) - By Julie Widden-Long

In his book “Let Me Tell You a Story,” noted speaker and writer Tony Campolo tells of the time he visited Haiti with his 17-year-old son, Bart. They were walking down one of the main streets of Port-au-Prince when they found themselves surrounded by impoverished, raggedy children. The children were begging for pennies, but Campolo said, “Bart, don’t give them anything! If you do, they won’t let up until they’ve got every dime we have.” Campolo said his son looked at him quizzically and answered, “So?”

It is hard to know how much is enough when we are giving. We want to do more, but we worry that we don’t have enough to go around. We fear creating dependency. Sometimes we really aren’t able to give what we want to give because of very realistic limitations.

But generous giving is not about having to give up what we don’t have. Generosity is about offering what we do have. God has given us enough for what God asks us to do.

Jesus told a story about a poor woman who came forth to offer two small coins for the temple treasury. He praised her sacrificial act, saying, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:43-44). She was praised because she had given what she had, and what she had was enough.

Bart Campolo knew that his pennies might not go far. He could only help those children for a short while and certainly would not change the world. But his commitment to Christ and his desire to meet the needs of others in the name of Christ convinced him that what he had was enough to make a difference.

Our congregation, like many others in our community, has sent mission teams to do work in Haiti and other destitute places around the world. A week’s work there is like a drop in the ocean for those who suffer. We also seek to address poverty in our own community. There is so much need.

But the “pennies” we offer will change the lives of those whom we do encounter. The family who can sleep under a safe roof for the first time in a while, the woman who receives medicine for an untreated ailment, and the children who will receive a hygiene kit or set of clothing will have a basic need met and will know that someone cares. Their lives will be changed because we give what we have.

So, be generous with what you have. Find a place to serve the poor, be it in Haiti or in downtown Macon. Come with your pockets full of pennies.

You just may find that when you give what God has given you, you will experience the joy of generosity and grow in the faith that what you have to offer is enough for God to use.