Philippians 4:19
You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus. Our God and Father abounds in glory that just pours out into eternity. Yes.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
This morning, I helped Timothy’s teacher get his class ready to trek across campus to the high school gymnasium for the school-wide Christmas music program. When I got up at 6:00 a.m., it was twelve degrees. By the time we made the walk across what amounts to about a city block at 8:45 a.m., I would say the temperature MIGHT have risen to 18 degrees – with a wind! Friday, we made this walk for a rehearsal, and several of the children were not dressed warmly. It was in the 30s then, but several of the children shook and shivered as we traveled to and from the gym.
I knew in reason that today, there would be some cold kids. Wind chills were in the single digits. Timothy and Zola have heavy warm coats – and gloves – but I knew that a lot of their classmates would have only a windbreaker, at best. So I gathered extra scarves and several fleece blankets that our children enjoy when they are visiting and took them with me. The six blankets and scarves I brought were just enough to fully wrap the children in Timothy’s class whose coats and jackets were inadequate.
I went down the line of 20 children and made sure each one had his/her hood on…and that whatever they were wearing was fully zipped. One little boy had what appeared to be a brand new coat, but he was not wearing it. I told him to put it on and zip it up…and he said, “I can’t…it doesn’t fit me.” I insisted…and he tearfully let me put him in the coat. His arms barely slid in, and I thought I might not get it zipped. He looked like a stuffed sausage! Once the program ended, I could not get this child to put the coat back on…and I mentioned this to a resource teacher who was standing next to me. She shook her head and said, “He has to have a warm coat for Christmas break. I can fix this…let me see what I can do.”
Thirty minutes later, the teacher showed up in Timothy’s classroom with an almost-new coat that fit much better. The teacher made the swap, and I wish you could have seen this child’s face. The relief and happiness that swept over him almost moved me to tears.
Each fall, there is an organization in our community that conducts a coat drive. People donate new and used coats for those who are in need…and hundreds of coats are distributed. This distribution just happened recently, and I suspect that the “leftovers” are housed somewhere in our school - just for situations like this.
I know this is a long story, but two things struck me. God put it on my heart to take those blankets and scarves this morning – not because I am so wonderful...but because HE is. He met the needs of those cold children and placed me in a position to realize that there was a child who needed a bigger coat. He put a burden on the hearts of people in our community to gather coats for those who need them…and to create a program to see that those in need received a helping hand.
God orchestrated the “connection” between me and the teacher who found this child a new coat. He touched the hearts of the older elementary children who started a food pantry at our school that creates “weekend bags” of food for students who would otherwise go hungry for those days. Today, I was again almost moved to tears as I looked at the “Christmas break” bags that were placed at each classroom door for the teachers to disseminate.
My point is that God is meeting needs and touching hearts…motivating people and sending disciples all around us, whether we actually realize it or not. The question is…are you one of them? Don’t you want to be? Open your heart and mind to the possibilities. Don’t ask God “Why?” Instead, ask, “Why not?” Whatever He places on your heart and in your mind to do for others, He will help you accomplish. Where you can’t see a way for things to work out…God has already handled every detail and will implement His plan according to His perfect timing. In any and every situation where you are tempted to throw up your hands and say, “I don’t know how much more I can take!”…God has already accounted for this, and He is leaps and bounds ahead of you!
God is in the business of loving us generously…of caring for our every need – and then some. I don’t get it…but the Bible tells us that His is a love we cannot fully comprehend. And I accept this, because I so want to believe…and trust…and bask in the fullness of His glory and His goodness. What about you?
©2016 Debbie Robus
You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus. Our God and Father abounds in glory that just pours out into eternity. Yes.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
This morning, I helped Timothy’s teacher get his class ready to trek across campus to the high school gymnasium for the school-wide Christmas music program. When I got up at 6:00 a.m., it was twelve degrees. By the time we made the walk across what amounts to about a city block at 8:45 a.m., I would say the temperature MIGHT have risen to 18 degrees – with a wind! Friday, we made this walk for a rehearsal, and several of the children were not dressed warmly. It was in the 30s then, but several of the children shook and shivered as we traveled to and from the gym.
I knew in reason that today, there would be some cold kids. Wind chills were in the single digits. Timothy and Zola have heavy warm coats – and gloves – but I knew that a lot of their classmates would have only a windbreaker, at best. So I gathered extra scarves and several fleece blankets that our children enjoy when they are visiting and took them with me. The six blankets and scarves I brought were just enough to fully wrap the children in Timothy’s class whose coats and jackets were inadequate.
I went down the line of 20 children and made sure each one had his/her hood on…and that whatever they were wearing was fully zipped. One little boy had what appeared to be a brand new coat, but he was not wearing it. I told him to put it on and zip it up…and he said, “I can’t…it doesn’t fit me.” I insisted…and he tearfully let me put him in the coat. His arms barely slid in, and I thought I might not get it zipped. He looked like a stuffed sausage! Once the program ended, I could not get this child to put the coat back on…and I mentioned this to a resource teacher who was standing next to me. She shook her head and said, “He has to have a warm coat for Christmas break. I can fix this…let me see what I can do.”
Thirty minutes later, the teacher showed up in Timothy’s classroom with an almost-new coat that fit much better. The teacher made the swap, and I wish you could have seen this child’s face. The relief and happiness that swept over him almost moved me to tears.
Each fall, there is an organization in our community that conducts a coat drive. People donate new and used coats for those who are in need…and hundreds of coats are distributed. This distribution just happened recently, and I suspect that the “leftovers” are housed somewhere in our school - just for situations like this.
I know this is a long story, but two things struck me. God put it on my heart to take those blankets and scarves this morning – not because I am so wonderful...but because HE is. He met the needs of those cold children and placed me in a position to realize that there was a child who needed a bigger coat. He put a burden on the hearts of people in our community to gather coats for those who need them…and to create a program to see that those in need received a helping hand.
God orchestrated the “connection” between me and the teacher who found this child a new coat. He touched the hearts of the older elementary children who started a food pantry at our school that creates “weekend bags” of food for students who would otherwise go hungry for those days. Today, I was again almost moved to tears as I looked at the “Christmas break” bags that were placed at each classroom door for the teachers to disseminate.
My point is that God is meeting needs and touching hearts…motivating people and sending disciples all around us, whether we actually realize it or not. The question is…are you one of them? Don’t you want to be? Open your heart and mind to the possibilities. Don’t ask God “Why?” Instead, ask, “Why not?” Whatever He places on your heart and in your mind to do for others, He will help you accomplish. Where you can’t see a way for things to work out…God has already handled every detail and will implement His plan according to His perfect timing. In any and every situation where you are tempted to throw up your hands and say, “I don’t know how much more I can take!”…God has already accounted for this, and He is leaps and bounds ahead of you!
God is in the business of loving us generously…of caring for our every need – and then some. I don’t get it…but the Bible tells us that His is a love we cannot fully comprehend. And I accept this, because I so want to believe…and trust…and bask in the fullness of His glory and His goodness. What about you?
©2016 Debbie Robus
