The Blessing of Giving

Madness! Madness! The carnage that we seen in the last few months is simply just incredible. All those venerable Wall Street firms that I once hoped to work for while I was still in the banking industry – all gone up in smoke. The collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market, the bursting of the real estate market, the implosion of the US auto-industry and then the $50 billion Madoff fraud (probably the biggest fraud of all time)! Surely by now the axiom that “Greed is good” made famous by the movie Wall Street has been shot to tatters. In the midst of all these madness, the common folks like us have been unwittingly affected too. We have to tightened our belts, eat out less, and worry about our next pay check but let not this rob us of the joy of giving.

In this season of Christmas, let us remember the God who gave us His all – His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. May it be a season of refuge from the carnage of Wall Street & Main Street. I was reminded in my devotions recently about what Paul said in 2 Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8 6 Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. 7 Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;

Sometimes I think I get caught up about what I have lost and forget what God has given. In turn I forget the joy of giving and giving cheerfully. As the Lord said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” How true, even more so during these times.

I was reminded of this when I was driving through California a recently and we stopped at this Dennis restaurant. There was this waitress who was having a really tough time from a customer. She ended up running into the Ladies weeping. Her manager explained that it was her first day of work. She came out with her make up and eye-liner all smudge up – what a day, especially since it was the eve of Thanksgiving. Apparently I was not the only who noticed that she was having a tough day. A sweet lady sitting right across me noticed it too. She ended up giving a huge tip to this young waitress and writing her a note of encouragement. That sweet lady just left it on the table as we walked out. Honestly, I thought it was kind of awkward and inconvenient. To me, that waitress was just another person I bumped into on this 26-hour drive to California and I just cannot wait to get on my way. But as I walked by the counter, the waitress with smudge eye-liner picked up the receipt and she just looked at the sweet lady, eyes brimming with tears, wearing an unforgettable smile on her face.

That day, I walked out of the Dennis feeling blessed. It made by 26-hour drive worth it. I realized what our Lord meant by it is more blessed to give than to receive. Doubly blessed as I stared at that sweet lady sitting in my car because God in His grace, had given this lady to me as my wife!

Rock of my salvation

Psalm 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, The God who is our salvation.

It’s weird that as we grow older, there seems to be more burdens and problems out there. I guess, its not so much that there are more problems, but we seem to take more on our shoulders. In the past few weeks, I have been struggling to depend on God to deal with future uncertainties. I came across this verse during my quiet time. It was such a comfort to know that God bears our daily burdens. He is a Lord who daily bears our burden with us, God of our salvation. Why don’t I bring my daily burdens to Him instead of struggling? Perhaps it’s because I do not believe that God cares enough about my daily struggles.
This past week, my wife and I dropped by Grand Canyon as we were driving back from California. It was an awesome sight. We climbed down a cliff that was jutting out from the Canyon rim and sat on the edge, with our legs dangling over the edge. It was quite an awesome and at the same time, thrilling experience. Then my wife decided to move to the pointed edge of the cliff and just sit there. When I saw her sitting right at the pointed edge, my heart rate just ran up. I kept calling her to come back. She refused and just sat there. So in the end, I just turned around and not look. At that moment, I was just so afraid that she falls off and I would lose her forever. Come to think of it, it is a rather irrational fear. This rock has been here for ages and there is no way she would fall. Later, when she came back up, I asked her if she was afraid. And she replied, “Yes, initially. But I realize that this huge sturdy rock will hold my weight. As I trusted in it, I felt calm.”
As we continued our drive home, I thought about what she said and recalled the Psalmist say, “The Lord is the rock of my salvation.” At other times, he cried out, “Oh, plant my feet on the everlasting rock.” The image is of the psalmist standing at the edge of a pit which the ancient Israelites dug to hold rain water. During the dry season, the cistern becomes a dangerous pit. One may fall into the pit by standing on the edge. So what they did was to line the edge of the pit with huge rocks. Thus standing on such a sturdy rock, one would have a firm footing and not slip and fall.
At that moment, I kind of understood what it means that God is the rock of my salvation. Just as my wife did not panic standing at the edge of the cliff because of her faith in the rock, if I do believe in God to bear my daily burdens, being the rock of my salvation who bears my burdens, then I have no need to be afraid.
Brothers and sisters, as we go through this unprecedented period of economic uncertainty, there is certainly much to be worried about. Maybe as you experience uncertainties because of transitions in life, as a result of changes in jobs, relationships, lost of loved ones, there is certainly a lot that weighs down on us. Perhaps we need to plant our feet on the Rock of our Salvation who is interested in bearing our daily burdens.