DAILY READING
REFLECTION
Unlimited Resources
by Mary Alice McGinnis
Do you find yourself feeling like you don’t have enough time? Do you ever worry that you won’t have enough money?
We often live with a fear of scarcity. We are afraid we won’t have enough time to get all the things accomplished that we find important. And how will we ever hope to have enough money to support ourselves, provide for others we care about, and still save for the future? After all, our time and our money are limited resources. They are like a fleeting vapor that is here one minute and gone the next.
The widow in today’s story had experienced the fleeting nature of time and money. Her time with her husband had been cut short. With no way to support herself, her money was vanishing too.
So why do you think she put her last two coins in the offering?
Jim Elliot, a missionary to Ecuador in the 1950s, said, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.” On January 8, 1956, Jim Elliot was killed by the very people he was trying to evangelize.
God shows us what He truly values. Romans 8:32 says, “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?”
Hold your hands out in front of you with your palms up in the shape of a cup.
Remember the promise of Ephesians 3:30, “Now to Him is able to do immeasurably more that all we ask or imagine. . .” He has, is and will continue to graciously give us everything we need, and abundantly more than we can possibly imagine. His resources are infinite and eternal. Visualize the abundance of His love for you, filling up your cupped hands and spilling over, and over and over!
Now, clench your hands into a tight fist.
What are you trying to cling to?
What is in your hand that you are unwilling to let go of?
Where are you feeling the fear of scarcity gripping you?
Now slowly open your hands.
Release to Him all those fears, all the need for control, for all the ways you are depending on yourself.
Surrender it all into His gracious hand. Meditate on 1 John 4:18b-19, “The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because He first loved us.”
How is Jesus speaking to your heart today? Perhaps like the widow, we can realize our true poverty, and willingly give ALL to our trustworthy God, who was willing to give His all for us.
PRAYER
Bring your open heart to Jesus right now using the lyrics of this song,
