2 Corinthians 9

My pastor is preaching a series called The Blessed Life about being generous and where true blessings come from. Not only has it been a great message for my husband and me, it was also a spring board for some amazing conversations with my 12 year old son. A few weeks ago, someone spoke in his school chapel about a jar that was set out in the office to collect money to purchase Bibles for people in India. At the time, he felt like God wanted him to give $100 to that cause. He didn’t mention it to us or anyone else.



This weekend, even though he missed attending “big church” because of our schedule, I let him attend Church Online to hear Craig’s message. Then last night, he finally shared what was on his heart. He said he wasn’t sure if God really talked to him or not. After telling me about the India thing, I told him I was pretty certain that a thought like that would not have just come from him. That’s not really typical of a 12 year old boy. But he was just holding on so tightly in his heart to the money. He thought of how long he had saved it and how he’d only have $70 left. Could he really trust God to bless him more? Could he really be certain God would provide? Could he really place his security in God’s true riches?


After a really great conversation it came down to me reading him some scripture that Craig is using in the messages. He finally went to bed (this was all past bedtime) but emerged back from his room after about 10 minutes with tears running down his face. “God talked to me,” he said.


He said on his way back to bed he just asked God, “So if I give this money, how will I know you will bless me?” Right at that moment he slid under the covers and he said that was his answer. Earlier that evening, he had already forgotten, that my parents had brought by the kids’ Christmas present early. She had bought them some really amazing warm fuzzy sheets that they had been wanting and Brannon had already put them on their beds while they were showering and playing and not paying attention. He said when he felt those sheets, it hit him, “God blessed me with these. This is far more blessed than I even expected to be today.” He was just so certain of God’s presence at that moment that he decided to see what else He’d say.


So he asked another question, “How much should I give then? Should I give it all to my church or to the Bibles in India or how should I split it up?” He said he was thinking through the math when he had the thought that he’d like to split it between the two but give the Bible fund a little more than half. That’s when he heard God again. “$100 is a little more than half of how much you have and that’s how much I told you to give in the first place.”


So he asked another question, “When should I give it.” He had planned to put it off until Christmas (I think to see how much he got as gifts so he wouldn’t run his total down). He said the moment he asked though, he was already filled with such a joy and peace that he didn’t want to wait to give it at all and wanted to give it the next day. That was God’s third answer.


That’s when he got up sobbing telling us how God had not only spoken to him and answered his prayers but he now had an assurance that God indeed wanted him to be more blessed than he could imagine and only wanted him to trust him with what he had.


I tell this story in relation to this chapter because it was one Craig used a verse from and one we read together last night. The part about others giving thanks to God because of you is what really hit him. He had given thanks to God for sheets that my parents had given to him. But he received it as a blessing from God. And now he knows that when a little boy gets his first Bible for Christmas somewhere in India, they will thank God because of him. And he’s right. That is amazing. And it is truly the blessed life.