Ordering Our Lives

For the past five weeks I have been taking an online course offered by BeADisciple.com entitled “A Life Worthy of the Gospel” which focuses on Christian Ethics. I have been challenged and edified, sharing my life experiences and gaining insight by reading and responding to what other participants write.

Participants have considered the nature of love, the ordering of our lives, the transforming nature of Scripture, and growing in grace. They then respond to practical questions such as making a decision to uproot one’s family to take a new job some distance from the current home, comparing society’s definition of success with the Christian’s call to being vulnerable, depending on God, and, this week, to consider how, at the end of our lives, we might finish the sentence, “I wish I had spent more money on….”

In today’s sermon (September 17), Larissa made the statement that “money never satisfies the hunger of the soul.” Her words have inspired me and taken me down a train of thought that I will apply to my response to the last “case study” of this course.

It is the time of year we as the church look at our resources and the needs of the church to determine the amount we will put on the pledge card. There is a tension between meeting our own needs and responding to what God asks us to give. Now I don’t think you have to be “poor for Jesus,” but I do think being better stewards requires an ordering of our lives. You have heard it said many times that there is a difference between what we need and what we want; do we put that into practice when it comes to giving some of our income for God’s work?

Yet, what will satisfy the hunger of my soul? I remember as a five-year-old child being given a dime to put into my envelope so that I could put something in the offering plate. The habit continued in adulthood. Usually, my income had little to do with it; so long as I put something in the envelope, I was doing the right thing, or so I thought.

That changed when I met Wayne. Not only was Wayne generous of spirit, but he was also generous with whatever he had. One time we were deciding how much cash to give to my son, Marty, and his bride Exie, as a wedding gift. He asked me to write down an amount and he would do the same. His amount was much more generous than mine. Returning from work in the middle of winter one day, I noticed he was not wearing the leather jacket he had bought that fall; he told me one of the homeless men which his program served did not have a coat at all. As it was beginning to snow that evening, Wayne took off his jacket and gave it to this man.

I grew not to be taken by surprise at these acts of kindness. One night at Bible study, a friend and his wife shared that they had custody of their kindergarten-aged granddaughter who had been taken from a violent home where drugs were used daily. He said that he wished he could put her in private school since this young girl was traumatized and not able to interact appropriately with other children. He was looking at enrolling her at St. Mary’s in Phoebus, but with his limited income, knew he couldn’t afford it. I saw the look that came over Wayne and when he looked at me, I merely nodded my head. For two years we paid for the child to attend that school.

I’m not writing this for praise (unless it is directed toward God!). I remember the words Wayne would use when God moved him to share our resources with those who needed them more, “We won’t miss it next week.” And we never did.

When Wayne died, I knew my income would change and expenses would need to be cut. Finally I stopped worrying and gave the situation over to God Who put Wayne’s words in my mind. God still leads me to help people, sometimes with money, other times with resources or time. I have begun to realize that the more I obey God’s direction to give, the greater peace I experience. When I look at the bank account, I still marvel at what is there and thank God He continues to direct me to share.

God has taught me that money does not satisfy the hunger of the heart—giving from the abundance with which He has blessed me is what satisfies; trusting Him with the blessings He has poured out on me brings joyful obedience to God’s direction. Trust and obey.

God has recently given me a blessing far greater than any dollar amount. He has brought Michael into my life. And once again, I see in Michael the generous nature I saw in Wayne—a man who would drop everything to help a friend, who would spend his own money to buy groceries for a man for whom he is caregiver when that man’s limited income is insufficient, who has given away so many things when we moved to our home so that another could be blessed by them.

I am learning to hold money and possessions lightly. I listen when God tells me to help, to give. I’m sure there are times when I have heard and not acted. Yet when I do, my heart is satisfied, and I believe I have “ordered my life” in accord with God’s will. At this time of stewardship, it is time to order our lives and satisfy the hunger of our hearts.