Give & Trust

She left and did as Elijah had said.  She was able to eat for a year…1 Kings 17:15

A wise little girl told me one time that what the world needed most is “more giving stuff away.”  It made me giggle but something about that simple little idea just clung in my thoughts. When I heard this line in the story of the Prophet Elijah and the widow this week that little girl’s idea bounced in my mind.  As adults, we know the word is generosity and she’s right, the world needs more of it.   The widow in the story matched her loving generosity with a gigantic dose of trust as well.  I think that’s a pretty powerful combination don’t you? In case you don’t know the whole story; a widow and her son were preparing to die of hunger during a famine.  The widow had only a tiny bit of flour and oil to prepare one last meal before starvation.   Then out of nowhere appears this man asking for bread and water.  She explains the situation and he tells her to make him a small cake before she does as she plans. In other words, hey lady, feed me first before you and your son have your last nibble of bread and die of starvation.  I think I might have been looking for something to throw at Him!   Not the widow, she responded with generosity and trust and her reward was a bin of flour and a jug of oil that never ran dry. 

I was watching a little video clip about St. Katherine Drexel last weekend and her life too demonstrated enormous generosity coupled with amazing trust.  When Katherine’s wealthy parents died, their estate left Katherine and her sisters with 14 million dollars each.  Today that amount would be closer to 400 million. Even though her family was very wealthy, their wealth was outmatched by their generosity.  The Drexel family opened their home three afternoons a week to bring in and feed, clothe and pray with the poor and the needy.  Guided by her parents example of loving generosity, Katherine became a nun and used her fortune to generously serve societies lost and forgotten.  Out of that entire fortune, not one little bit was saved for herself.  One of the people I was watching the video with said, “I think I would have set some aside in a special little account just in case.”  Like the widow, it was generosity first, trust second and blessings third.

Don’t be puzzled, this is not a post offering financial guidance for managing the millions of dollars you have lying around, I will let you manage your millions yourself!  It is however a good day to look at all of the things that constitute our personal fortune, like our time, health, resources and God-given gifts and talents.  It’s a good day to evaluate our generosity and trust, using the example of the heroes of our faith. There are people like Katherine who have so much and then there are people like the widow who have so little yet both acted with such generosity it left a mark! I suppose that eliminates all excuses for the rest of us doesn’t it! We are each called to be generous stewards of our gifts no matter how great or how small they seem.  We are also called to give an example of generosity to our friends and family.  I wonder what Katherine would have done with her fortune if she hadn’t grown up in a home that flung open its doors to love and care for the poor? I have to ask myself what I have taught my own children about generosity.

I think the biggest thing sitting on my heart as I type this post…what does my loving God have in store for me if I were to act in complete generosity and trust?  The widow got a blessing far beyond imagination, Katherine Drexel was blessed immeasurably by those she loved and served in the name of Christ.  So what’s waiting for me?  I suppose I have to grow in trust, act with greater generosity and see what happens.  I’ll keep you posted!

A Seed To Plant: As you sit in prayer this week, ask God to show you how to be more generous and trusting.  ​

Blessings on your day!