Just Ask... Just Give.
It’s easy for me to grasp the
fact that everything that belongs to mum is mine. What’s hers is mine and what’s
mine is mine. I haven’t been able to discipline myself when it comes to her
possession.
I wear her laces, I use her
jewelry, her shoes, her perfume, her sunglasses, and her bags… With my sisters
and aunts, I have self-control, or fear control. Sisterhood stops when it comes
to grabbing their stuff and acting like it belongs to you.(Well, except they travel
and you use their stuff and then have to hide your pictures so they don’t find
you out.)
Mum’s enjoying a meal, and I
waltz in and take over.
Her last sip of coke, I want.
Her car, I use and even
grumble when she’s out for long and I need to go out.
She’s my earthly mother and there’s
no way she would withhold anything good from me, as long as she can get it, she'll go all out for me…. How much more
our heavenly father?
Mum travelled and bought
herself beautiful new bags. One day, I decided I was going to use one of the
new handbags she got. I searched her room but couldn’t find any of her new bags.
Why would she hide her bags from me? I searched everywhere, all the hiding places… I couldn’t find any of
the bags. The only way to get them was to ask her, but I didn’t bother. It was
strange that I had access to her gold, which is obviously more expensive than
the bags, but not the bags. Why would the jewelry be easier to find than the
bags? There’s no way she wouldn’t have told me where the new bags were, even if
she grumbled about me using her new purchases.
But I didn’t ask her, so I
didn’t get to use it when I wanted to.
What are you trying to access
from God? It may seem little or irrelevant, but some things no matter how
little they seem, wouldn’t get to you if do not ask. God may give you that car
without you even praying about it, or He would preserve your life without you
having to pray for long life, but He would wait for you to ask him when you
need a phone or something that seems smaller than a car or irrelevant compared
to life… I had access to mums more expensive gold in it’s hiding place, but I
didn’t get her bag that was worth less because I didn’t ask. Don’t just sit grumbling
while waiting for a need you haven’t asked God to meet… “Don’t
bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn’t a cat-and-mouse,
hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him
with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his
plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing. You’re at least
decent to your own children. So don’t you think the God who conceived you in
love will be even better?” Matthew 7:7-11(msg)
I grumble when mum wants to
use my stuff, which isn’t often. My precious bottle of Chanel perfume was in
the last drops and she would come into the room and before stepping out, spray
a little and my soul would hurt real bad (It doesn’t matter that I spritz a
cocktail of her perfumes everyday). The other day she decided to use my bag, I should have given it to her and asked her to keep it
since she liked it, but I wasn’t about sacrificing my Prada to the woman who
has given me the world. I gave her the bag and made sure she knew it wasn’t for
keeps by the way I talked about it when I handed it over, she returned it
swiftly after her day out and told me how everyone seemed to like the bag, that
was my cue to say “you can have it mother
dearest”, but I quickly took it and put it in the dust bag! I’ve got
stories of other sacrifices I have grumbled or refused to make for her even as
much as I love her and enjoy receiving her love.
What is God asking you for?
Like I grumbled at mummy, do we grumble for the little sacrifice He gently
pleads with us for? Like a few minutes of prayer and worship, or giving an
offering or when he nudges us to give out from something He blessed us with,
to be a blessing to someone else… or volunteer your time or something little
compared to what He’s done and willing to keep doing for us? Sacrifices for God
takes nothing out of you even though your flesh may hurt at that moment,
rather, it increases you in more ways than you can ever imagine. “Give, and you will receive. Your gift
will return to you in full--pressed down, shaken together to make room for
more, running over, and poured into your lap...” Luke 6:38 ”Those who plant in
tears will harvest with shouts of joy.” Psalm 126:5 and so much more promises for those that yield and do
not hold back from God.
Ask when you’re in need of
the littlest thing and watch Him respond… Same time, don’t be so spoilt that you
can’t sacrifice a pinch of love for the one who loves you wholly as you are.
This has truly blessed me... Thank you xx
ReplyDeleteThis is some deep one. Thank you for sharing
ReplyDeleteThis post blessed me as much as it made me miss my mama who is with the Lord now. Still, I'm not sad. They're fond memories. Your analogy is brilliant! Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteThis spoke to me. Thanks
ReplyDelete