Michelle DeRusha

Every Day Faith. Faith Every Day.

giving

Hear It on Sunday, Use It on Monday: We are Part of Filling the Need

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“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life – whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. For life is more than food, and your body more than clothing…Your Father already knows your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.” (Luke 12:22, 31)

When I read these verses part of me wonders if God is holding up his end of the deal.

I can’t help but think about the millions who lack even the most basic necessities. God tells us not to worry about the little things, but what about the millions who don’t have a single pair of shoes? What about the millions who don’t have a single bowl of rice to place on the table in front of their children? What about the millions who cannot get a single vaccination to ward off a preventable disease? What about them, God? Why aren’t they getting everything they need?

And what about Jackline? I ask God.

Jackline is the young woman we sponsor in Tanzania. Her picture hangs on our refrigerator, her smile radiant against a backdrop of vivid pink flowers. Last year she graduated from high school, and when we heard she’d aced her national examinations and been admitted to the university, I grinned with pride and joy.

It sounds a little silly, I know, but Jackline feels a little bit like our own daughter, even though we’ve never even met her face-to-face. We pray for her. We cheer for her. We celebrate with her. And we mourn with her.

Jackline missed her very first week of college classes last month. Her younger brother died, she told us in a brief email. She’d gone home for the funeral.

What about Jackline? I ask God.

If God promises he will give us everything we need, that we need not worry about anything, big or small, why does Jackline mourn the loss of her brother on her first day of college? Why, when she already has so little, does she still have to suffer so much?

Of course I don’t have the answers to those questions. But when I force myself to look hard at the truth, I do know this:

The burden to provide isn’t all on God. I’m in the mix, too — right there in the middle. And it’s my job, my personal responsibility, to stand in the gap, even if that standing in seems small and irrelevant and not ever nearly enough.

I sat at my computer for a long time as I struggled to compose a reply to Jackline. When I finally put my fingers to the keyboard, my email wasn’t very long or eloquent. But as I typed I prayed my simple sentences would convey love, comfort and compassion to the daughter I’ve never met. I prayed my small words would cross oceans and mountains and thousands of miles and embed themselves in Jackline’s heart.

I prayed that God would take my inadequate words and somehow use them to fill Jackline’s need, to somehow make them enough.

Questions for Reflection:
What’s your reaction to these verses about worry in Luke? Do you ever wonder how this Scripture applies to the world’s poorest and most needy? Do you believe you have a responsibility as a provider? And if you answer yes, what’s one small way you can fulfill that responsibility?

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Welcome to the Hear It on Sunday, Use It on Monday community, a place where we share what we are hearing from God and his Word each week. If you’re here for the first time, click here for more information.

Please include the Hear It, Use It button (grab the code below) or a link in your post, so your readers know where to find the community if they want to join in — thank you!

Please also try to visit and leave some friendly encouragement in the comment box of at least one other #HearItUseIt participant. And if you want to tweet about the community, please use the #HearItUseIt hashtag.

Thank you — I am so grateful that you are here!

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Hear It on Sunday, Use It on Monday: When You Wrestle with Giving versus Getting

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I cleaned out my closest last weekend. I also cleaned out the boys’ closets, and I politely insisted that my husband clean out his, too. And I helped him. He might argue about my use of the word “help.” But I really do feel like I did him a great service, standing at the threshold of his closet, shaking my head as he held up one shirt after another.  He drew the line at the 1981 Foghat concert t-shirt. That one went back into the closet, instead of into the bag bound for Goodwill. Maybe next time.

I like to organize closets. Nothing brings me more satisfaction than knowing I have sorted through every last purse, every last pair of jeans, every last of my husband’s golf shirts and discarded those I don’t wear, don’t fit or, as in the case of Brad’s golf shirts, are just plain ugly.

Last Saturday I felt liberated as I drove three trash bags full of discarded items over to the Goodwill and nine grocery bags of books (yes, nine – have I mentioned I am married to an English professor?) to donate to the library. It felt good to hand over so much stuff.

Until, that is, I was struck with the sudden urge to shop. No sooner had I unloaded the donated items from my mini-van when I immediately felt the overpowering desire to hit Target and replenish the “void.”

There seems to be a pattern here. I cull through my offensive amount of stuff and donate a bunch of it to charity, and then battle the urge to buy more.

Somehow my giving seems to entitle my getting.

I probably don’t need to tell you that this isn’t what God has in mind for us.

The truth is, God values relationship over riches, substance over more stuff – relationship with him, as well as with each other.

“Life is not measured by how much you own,” Jesus tells us (Luke 12:15-21).

Frankly, I don’t think God cares very much that I gave away three trash bags of clothes and nine bags of books last week. In fact, he might be wondering why in the world I’d acquired so much stuff I didn’t need or use in the first place.

No, I suspect God would prefer I spend my time not shopping to acquire more stuff I don’t need, but spending that time in relationship with him through my relationships with others.

As much as I wanted to, I didn’t turn the mini-van toward the Target parking lot last Saturday. Instead, I drove straight home. And later that weekend I spent the entire afternoon sitting in a rocking chair in the corner of my neighbor’s living room, my shoes off, feet tucked into the cushion. We chatted about the weather, recipes and good reads – nothing particularly special or exciting.

But when I left her house and walked down the sidewalk toward my own home, I felt refreshed and fulfilled, relaxed and at peace – the kind of peace that will never come with the purchase of a brand-new purse.

What about you? Do you ever feel entitled to get just because you’ve given? What’s one thing you can give away this week (without buying something new to replace it!)?

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Welcome to the Hear It on Sunday, Use It on Monday community, a place where we share what we are hearing from God and his Word each week. If you’re here for the first time, click here for more information.

Please include the Hear It, Use It button (grab the code below) or a link in your post, so your readers know where to find the community if they want to join in — thank you!

Please also try to visit and leave some friendly encouragement in the comment box of at least one other #HearItUseIt participant. And if you want to tweet about the community, please use the #HearItUseIt hashtag.

Thank you — I am so grateful that you are here!

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Will We Merely Satisfy … or Will We Sacrifice?

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{A quick note: Jillie won the random drawing of Ally Vesterfelt’s new book Packing Light! Jillie, please send me your mailing address!}

I’m reading Francis Chan again. Man, that Francis Chan. I love him, but I kind of don’t love him, too, you know? Because Francis Chan always gets me good where it hurts.

Chapter Four in Crazy Love is called “Profile of the Lukewarm,” and I knew when I saw that title, it was going to be bad. Real bad. I knew when Francis asked me, “Would you describe yourself as totally in love with Jesus Christ? Or do the words halfhearted, lukewarm and partially committed fit better?”  – I knew, it was going to get ugly. And I knew, when Francis asked me to take the lukewarm test, that I was going to fail.

So here’s the long and the short of it. Francis lists 16 descriptors of what he calls “the lukewarm people” —

The lukewarm people give money to charity and to the church…as long as it doesn’t impinge on their standard of living.

The lukewarm people are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act. They assume such action is for “extreme” Christians, not average ones. 

The lukewarm people will serve God and others, but there are limits to how far they will go and how much time, money and energy they are willing to give.

The lukewarm people ask, “How much do I have to give?” rather than, “How much can I give?” 

I know. Does it make you cringe? If you’re like me, you’re probably mad at Francis Chan for going there. I get all defensive, like Who does he think he is, Mr. Fancy Pants Francis Chan, making those kind of statements? I get mad, because I know he’s right.

Truth be told, of the 16 lukewarm descriptors, I hit 15 dead-on.

I am lukewarm. More like barely warm. Probably more like tundra.

When I looked hard at some of those descriptions, I saw a number of themes, but one in particular stood out: sacrifice.

I don’t sacrifice. I merely satisfy the bare minimum requirements of what I think defines a good Christian.

Man that hurts. But I know it’s true. When it comes to giving my time, my resources and my money, I aim for good-enough — enough to reassure myself that I am giving, that I am serving, that I am doing my Christian duty. Enough to convince myself that I am living as Jesus taught. Loving my neighbor. Caring for the poor. Supporting the orphan and the widow.

Enough to consider myself good-enough.

But as Francis Chan loves to point out, good-enough isn’t Jesus’ way, and it’s not what expects from us either.

“Take up your cross and follow me” is not a lukewarm command.

“Sell everything and give to the poor” is not a lukewarm command.

“Do not merely listen to the word…do what it says” is not a lukewarm command.

Jesus demands not merely satisfying, not halfway, good-enough, almost-there.

Jesus demands sacrifice. Good-enough is not enough.

So September is Blogger Month at Compassion International. Each week we blog on a particular topic — my topic this week was “sacrifice” — with the goal of inspiring and encouraging our readers to sponsor a child in need through Compassion. I’m not usually Preacher Miss Preachy around here, but Francis Chan got me fired up about sacrifice this week, and I do hope it inspires you to take that step, to make that sacrifice in order to love one of God’s children who so desperately needs help. If you’ve been feeling a bit lukewarm, like maybe you’ve been living a good-enough kind of faith, maybe this is your nudge. Please consider sponsoring a Compassion child today.

The Art of Doing Small Things with Great Love

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I settle in, cinch the seat belt across my lap and, with one foot, push my carry-on farther under the seat in front of me. It’s only when I go to power-down my phone that I see I have a text message. And I know, even without looking, who it’s from.

Whether I’m traveling for two days or two weeks, Deidra always sends me a text the morning I depart. It’s a simple message – a wish for safe travels and a good trip. But she always remembers. It’s just one small thing, a few words on my cell phone, but it makes me smile every time. Her text reminds me that I am loved and remembered, that we are connected, she and I.

“Remind me to buy a birthday card for Mary Ann when we’re at CVS,” my mom says as we walk side-by-side past the farm stand and the rows of corn and cabbage along the country road. “No one sends cards anymore, you know,” I tell her. “Well I like them, so I send them,” she replies.

It’s true. My mom never misses a birthday or an anniversary. If you’re in my mom’s address book, you’ll get a card. She single-handedly keeps Hallmark in business. A couple months ago when my dad was in the hospital, my mom forgot to send a birthday card to my Aunt Marie. A week later, Aunt Marie called, wondering what had happened. “Where’s my card? You never forget to send a card!” she told my mom on the phone.

My friend Andrea bakes and cooks – muffins, casseroles, soups, bread, cookies. If you have a baby or a medical procedure, are suffering through the loss of a loved one or a difficult time, it won’t be long before Andrea rings your doorbell, comfort food in hand. My husband Brad’s that way, too. When our neighbor’s Maggie and Mike had a baby, I mused aloud that we should make them a meal. Two hours later, Brad was whipping up a pan of enchiladas in the kitchen.

“No one can do great things,” Mother Teresa once said, “but each of us can do small things with great love.”

Deidra’s texts, my mom’s cards and Andrea’s and Brad’s casseroles remind me just how important these small gestures are. These small acts tell us that we are not alone. That we are remembered, cherished, valued and adored.  They may be small gestures, true, but they communicate a great and powerful sentiment: love.

Tell me: What’s one small thing you regularly do with great love? 

And the winner of the book Wounded Women of the Bible is: Joanne Palm!!!! Rowan picked your name from the Tupperware bowl!! Joanne, please email me your mailing address and I’ll have the book sent directly to you from Amazon. My email: [email protected]

Wrapping My Heart around Christmas

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Over the years my family has carved out a number of holiday traditions, from baking mini pumpkin chocolate-chip loaves for the kids’ teachers to belting Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer ad nauseum. By far, though, my favorite tradition is wrapping gifts for City Impact.
Each year in December, City Impact organizes what’s called the Gifts of Love Store in the basement of First Baptist Church in downtown Lincoln. They collect hundreds of donated items, dramatically mark down the retail price, and then open the store to allow low-income families to shop for the holidays. My husband, two boys and I volunteer one night every December to help the kids wrap the gifts they’ve chosen for their parents, grandparents and siblings.
We roll up our sleeves, lay out scissors, paper, ribbon, bows, gift bags and tags at each wrapping station, and not long after, they start to come.

…I’m delighted to be writing about one of my family’s holiday traditions over at Chelsey’s place, as part of her 25 Days of Christmas Traditions series. Will you click over to read about our wrapping adventure?

And while you’re here, tell me: what’s your favorite holiday tradition?  [oh, and be sure to come back here Friday for a giveaway!]