Something interesting happened to me yesterday. A 20-something couple from our church called me and said they needed to drop something off for us. A few minutes later they pulled up handed us an envelope and were on their way. Curiously, Linda and I opened it to see what was inside, when we did we found a letter from them…
Hey Bob and Linda,
First off, we want to apologize for not obeying God concerning you. A little over a year and a half ago, we knew in our heart that we were supposed to give you a thousand dollars. When it came down to it, instead of obeying God immediately, we got in fear concerning our finances. Over the course of that time, we have come to fear God more and grow in our understanding that there are people attached to our obedience. Even though it’s been more than a year, that sense in our heart to give this to you has never waned. So, here we are obeying God now. Please forgive us for not obeying promptly. God is so faithful and we’re glad that God has placed you in our life!
Behind the letter were ten, crisp $100 bills.
As we sat in our car reading the letter, I didn’t really know what to think. I am still trying to soak it in. This is coming from a young couple with kids, who doesn’t just have cash like this laying around. This is something that might not be as much of a surprise coming from a rich relative, but when it comes from your peers it is quite humbling – and it makes you stop and think.
Faith and giving
The tenacity of faith to obey God, the sacrifice that was made in order to come up with the money, and the follow-through to put action to something that many would have left as a “good idea.”
These are the type of people that I admire, learn from, and want to model my life after. Their proper understanding of faith and money defines what this site is all about.
While we continued to discuss it in our car, Linda’s eyes welled up with tears while she explained how excited she is for them. Is this not the same faith that is talked about in Hebrews 11? All those great men and women of God stepped out in bold faith – most of them not understanding why, but risking all to obey God. Isn’t this what we are all called to?
This was a couple who had (in the past) been in some very challenging times with their finances. I have had the privilege of being able to watch them co-labor with God to move forward financially. I am convinced that their attitude towards giving has propelled them forward and will continue to in the future.
I know that feeling of stepping out in faith and hoping that you are not crazy and are actually following God. It is scary and exciting, but there are always great things on the other side of faith-tests like that. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for them. Way to go extravagant givers!
“Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure–pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” Luke 6:38 (NASB)
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That is awesome! Praise God for this young couple’s obedience. What a great testimony of generosity. It could’ve been easy for them to ignore the call after a year and a half, but they listened and obeyed.
Thanks for sharing this! What an encouragment.
JT
http://redeemingriches.wordpress.com
What an incredible story today Bob. Thank you for posting it. Such an amazing testimony of God’s passionate, giving heart. God’s love was truly displayed through that young couple. Have a wonderful day sir!
OK I am confused and maybe I am missing the backstory. Why did they give this money to you? As a testament of faith? Something seems a little off if they are just randomly giving you $1000 that they need to live off of. Like I said, I think I am missing something.
What a blessing for that couple and for you. Obedience is all He asks and from that He will bless us. May we all learn from this…thanks for sharing!
Lynn,
I would imagine I can answer this. Simply put, the couple gave because God told them to, and they were (eventually) faithful enough to listen, and stop asking questions about why. Sometimes, that’s the most important thing to get right, stop asking God what His plans are, because they aren’t your plans.
Interestingly enough, my wife and I have been that couple before. Its surprisingly similar actually. We’re 20-somethings, and gave a $1000 check to a couple our age. We were long friends, and members of the same church at one time, although they had moved elsewhere by that time.
One day I said to my wife, ‘Hey, have you heard from John and Sally (not their real names) lately?’ My wife said no, but that she had been thinking about them for some reason. Then, out of the blue, I said, ‘I think we should send them $1000.’ My wife was amazed, because she had been thinking the same thing for some time, but didn’t bring it up to me. She instead asked God that if she was hearing the right thing, to have me make that decision.
We had no idea why we were supposed to send them money, although we knew they had been having some financial problems in the past. Turns out, ‘John’ had been considering going to seminary, and felt he was being led into the ministry. With two young kids, shaky jobs, a recent relocation all going on, they were putting off doing anything about that calling. I’m not sure if he ever actually went to seminary, or if they used the money to fix the car, or whatever else. Frankly, I don’t much care; it was a gift, they needed it, and God provided it. I don’t know if they needed the cash, or if they just needed a reminder that they need to follow God’s calling, and He will provide. We were glad we were able to do it, either way.
Like other posters have said, it was very much a blessing to US to give.
I should also add, that although we are fairly financially stable, $1000 is still money we need to live off of. Any time we choose to follow was God wants us to do (financially or otherwise) we are blessed. We give heavily to missions work around the world, and although those offerings are significant portions of our income, what we need is always there. At times, we’ve worried how we are going to give, and live at the same time. We’ve gotten past this now, because whenever we do what God asks, we have everything we need to get by, plus we are blessed with some of those ‘wants’.
I also wanted to add, that it is entirely possible that only God knows why this happened right now. The giver and the receiver might be totally clueless as to what is going on. Regardless, in this case, they both seem to understand that it is in God’s plan, and they don’t need to know until God is ready for that to happen.
Infinion,
thanks for clarifying that – well put.
Lynn,
I know what you mean, honestly initially I felt a little bit the same way, but if they felt that it was the holy spirit’s leading to give the money, then it was the right thing to do. Like I mentioned in the article, God really gets a kick out of this faith thing – in fact he even says that it is impossible to please Him without it… So when I see people taking steps of faith like this, it gets me really excited for their benefit…
In Phillippians 4 Paul was explaining to the church that he wasn’t seeking their giving for HIS benefit, but for THEIRS. He knew full well that if they were giving and sowing seed, they would ultimately be the ones to benefit.
Maybe someone can explain the amount of $1000? Is there significance to this or is just a coincidence that this is how much the couple gave and how much Infinion said he was going to give the couple randomly. To me that is a lot of money and if someone gave it to me I would not even be able to accept it no matter what the circumstances. If they didn’t take it back I would find a way to give it back to them – directly or indirectly. I understand what is driving the couple to do this and I guess I could sort of understand it if the person giving was well off or came into some money and the person receiving was struggling but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I always enjoy the giving stories on Dave Ramsey’s program around the holidays but that involves a large tip to a needy waitress, a donation to a child in a 3rd world country of $50 that could build an entire house etc. Seriously, I could understand $100 or something on that level, but $1000 is a significant amount of money. I have to admit that as a Christian I just don’t get giving someone a gift of that amount of money.
This is an amazing testimony, thank you for sharing!
@Lynn,
I’ve been on the giving and receiving end ~ sometimes it’s $10, sometimes $100 and yes sometimes $1000. I don’t beleive the number is an significant as the act of obedience.
While it is sometimes difficult to accept a financial gift, I have learned that when people are acting out of obedience, I don’t want to hinder their act by not accepting. This does not mean that the Lord will not deal with me to give it back in some other way. It all comes down to obedience.
Blessings!
Kita
I would agree with Kita on the dollar amount question. I don’t see any special significance with the amount in either story, other than that was what we felt God told us to give. On the same thread, we feel that God gives us relatively specific dollar figures for special offerings at church or for missions work through our association programs. My wife and I commonly consult God in circumstances like this, and usually come up with the same figures, or at least in the same ballpark. We don’t look at our checkbook, or at our budget, or at how much someone or some organization asks for, we seek God for that information. We are not wealthy by most standards, and $1000 is a significant amount to us, you are correct in that. But that’s not to say that $100 is insignificant either, and that would have made any more sense to me if that was what God had asked for.
I used to be really hung up on answering all the questions that couldn’t be answered. I always searched for some logical answer or some logical explanation. When I finally figured out that I couldn’t find the answer to every question, and that in some cases, I may never know, and that only God knows some answers, I was at peace with it all. In fact, at that point, many of my questions were finally answered, only many not in the way I had originally thought they would be answered.
I also thinks it takes some faith on both parties for something like this to work. We called the couple we gave to before we sent them a check. We knew they might have a hard time accepting help from US. We called to explain we felt that God was leading us to give some of HIS money to them. I think that was the key. We wanted them to know it wasn’t us doing this, we were simply the vehicle to complete God’s plan. When they understood that, we were sure they wouldn’t just rip up the check when they got it. The couple we gave to is faithful, and they understood exactly what we were saying, and accepted the gift without question.
I suppose to me, $1000 is a lot of money. But to God, it’s just what we need. He owns it ALL, who are we to say if we will or will not give it, or if we will or will not accept it. Do I have $1000 sitting around to give someone? No, not really. But if that’s what God tells me to do, I’ll be able to handle it, and I know God will provide. My response would be no different if the amount were $10 or $10,000. It’s not mine to begin with; what God chooses to do with it is fine by me. With a fair amount of faith, and some experience to back it up, I know that if I listen to what God tells me, he’ll be faithful on his part of the deal.
Lynn,
I also think that maybe the reason that $1000 is used frequently (at least in the two data points we have here), is that is was in fact, significant for both parties involved. To me, it’s a lot of money. It took faith for me to part with it. To the recipients, it was a lot of money. It might have taken some faith on their part to accept it. It might have been ’significant’ enough that it really made a difference in a situation that a $100 gift might not have. It might have been significant enough (they know we aren’t wealthy) to boost their faith to really follow God in their calling.
Maybe it wasn’t significant, and was really just a nice round number though. My wife and I almost always settle on amounts that are divisible by $100. Maybe God figures that it’s hard enough for us to listen to him, maybe he’d better just round to the nearest hundred to make it easy for us.
This is a great story about the importance of changing our mindsets from how can I be blessed to how can I be a blessing to someone else. Thanks for sharing!
I’m going to side with Lynn here,
I’ve seen God do some wierd crazy miraculous. But something Always clicks, the question of WHY is always answered. God’s ways are his ways, but he always proves himself to be great.
Bob, I’m not 100% up to date with your story, but wouldn’t the time of one year ago put you at the time when you guys were much more at the beginning of your financial change?
In other words, would that $1k be a lot more significant a year ago?
And now that you have the money now, whacha going to do with the winfall =) Is their some ministry need or personal need that happens to be about $1k ?
Praise God. I have been on both ends of giving and it is a blessing from both ends. Obedience is better than sacrafice and God will always honor and bless obedience. I would be surprised if you posted that something awesome has happened for the couple in the near future (as we know it might not be financial). Through this site and your blogs you are being faithful to God and He honors that as well, this is just another way he is choosing to bless you for your obedience. When you left your last job you could have gone to another area of corporate america, but instead you are educating His people and not be selfish about how you do; that is big and an act of faith as well.
I love this story; how awesome!!!
correction…i would NOT be surprised if you reported something awesome happened in the life of the giving couple in the near future.
Great article … sharing with my readers!! This is linked on my “This ‘n That” Thursday post.
http://myreasonstoblog.blogspot.com/
Love your blog!!
~ Joy