“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are already in bed. I cant get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your persistence, he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.” Luke 11:5-8
Yet because of your persistence, he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. How reassuring it is that though we have nothing to offer people that we meet during our journey, we can go to the One who is wealthy, and He will give to us what we can offer. It’s a humbling thought to know that we have nothing to offer, but with Jesus, we have the greatest gift that can ever be offered.
During our last session this evening, we had the opportunity to hear many stories from the global women. Though each story was unique, all of them shared a common thread: a giving of the Holy Spirit. It is such a wonderful thing- such a gracious thing- to be able to give something that we don’t even have within ourselves. I suppose that is what real grace is. Our speaker, Shelly Volkhardt, used Dallas Willard’s definition of grace to help the volunteers and attendees better comprehend. Grace, according to Willard, is “God doing in you what you cant do yourself”. God cares both about the person ministering and the one receiving, so much so that he gifts the person ministering so that the person receiving gains all that they need. Wow, what a beautiful thing.
There was one woman in particular that I had the privilege of ministering to through a self-care appointment. I enjoyed giving almost every single one of the ladies a makeover, but this woman in particular stood out to me. The global woman is from England and had never worn make up in her life. She sat in my chair, gestured toward her face, and asked, “is this something you can even work with?” while she pointed at her own face and laughed. I told her I would be more than happy to give it everything I had. I put on just enough for her to see it, and she just lit up! She beamed with confidence as she walked out of the room. Later our counselor told me that this global woman walked into her counseling appointment just glowing. The counselor asked what on earth she needed counseling for, simply because of how uplifted her countenance was. The woman replied “I will get to that later, but first can you take my picture?”.
It was such a simple thing to offer a makeover, but God gave me so much more to offer. And He did that because He loves her and He knows exactly what she needs.
We serve a God who gives so graciously and so generously. I pray He would expand our capacity to receive Him so we can expand our capacity to give of Him.
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