Hey Friend,
How are you? Here, in London the temperature has dropped significantly. The skies are grey with only the slightest hint of blue poking through which points to the chance (no matter how small) of snow. Cue excited kids in my house 😊
Towards the end of last year I felt God was prompting us as a family to give. I explained to the children why we were doing it and said they should decide how much of their Christmas money they wanted to give. We gave to a charity and a ministry we follow but the bulk of it went to a missionary and his family. Now, the timing between God telling me to do this and me actually doing it weren’t exactly immediate. I got distracted by… life, I guess and it was actually a few weeks into January when I finally sent the money. The missionary sent me a message thanking us for our gift saying it was ‘timely’. I asked if they were in need. He replied that they had an unexpected expense but they received our gift and someone else’s almost at the same time and it was exactly the amount they needed! Cue me and the kids doing a little praise dance to God in our living room!
And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
1 SAMUEL CH.15:22
We gave because God told us to. And even my delay in giving still matched up with His perfect timing to bless a brother in Christ and his family.
Sometimes I’ll ask my children to do something and instead of doing that thing, they do something else. For example, I might be coming in late with bags of shopping so I say to my son, ‘Go get your PJ’s on and brush your teeth while I start putting the shopping away.’ Instead of doing that, he might try to help bring the shopping inside even though the bags are way too heavy for him, or attempt to put something away but in the wrong cupboard. He will say ‘I’m trying to help!’ but it isn’t helpful because that isn’t where I needed him to be.
When God is prompting us to speak to that homeless person who we pass every week but instead we give online to a homelessness charity, we’re not being obedient and we’re not helping. Of course, God doesn’t need our help. He wants to bless us as we bless others but if our desire to obey is in a way that’s convenient to us, it’s disobedience.
What’s the thing you’ve been running from that you know God wants you to do? Let me encourage you to take that step of faith and do it and see how He will bless your obedience.
Love and blessings
Ana x
Steadfast Love 