Open Your Hands

“Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.”‭‭ Matthew‬ ‭10‬:‭8‬

My parents grew up during the Great Depression and wartime, but they had two very different experiences.  My mother’s family was very grateful.  My grandfather kept his job as a firefighter in California and they had no lack when compared with many around them.  They opened their hands and gave eggs and chicken from their backyard, and made soup and sandwiches to feed those around them in need.  My uncle continues to give and feed those in need every day, and he does so quietly, without any fanfare.

My father’s family had a different experience.  While they had no real lack, either, the grateful and generous spirit was missing from his home in Texas.  My mother's fresh joyful and generous attitude was something new to him, and I watched as over time God did a wonderful work, removing fear and granting a joyful and very generous spirit in my father, as well.

Both of my parents found it important to teach their children the value of a dollar, hard work, and never wasting anything we were given.  Yet, I didn't always grasp these lessons.  Rather, as a youngster, I took to grasping very tightly to what I felt was mine (see Gumballs and Giving, May 21, 2017).  Much like my father, it took time and many wonderful, although painful, lessons to learn to open my hands in both giving and receiving.

Scripture tells us in Acts 20:35, "I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive'" (NKJV).

And, Psalm 24:1 states, "The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein" (NKJV).

I'm still not perfect at it, and have to be reminded sometimes to open my hands.

Do you?

I pray we will all open our hands and hearts to those around us today.

Goodnight, Runners.