He Giveth and Giveth and Giveth Again

Note by Belinda:


My friend Magda shared a story in response to my post of a few days ago:Point Taken. She agreed that I could post it here! When God gives, he gives so lavishly. And the song that Magda mentioned is a hymn that I love.

Oh Belinda - how amazing to read how God giveth and giveth to you. Do you know the hymn He Giveth More Grace? You can find it on u tube.I first heard it in the Salvation Army at a time when I really needed to hear this confirmation. The last line of the chorus is:
He giveth and giveth and giveth again.
Your story reminds me of the North American Christian social workers' conference we hosted in Toronto in 1998 when we prayed for a conference that would make our peers feel special. 


Registration fees for the annual conference are kept low to reflect the reality that social workers generally do not have the money to pay for a luxurious event. The week of the conference the loonie dropped to its lowest and since the Americans paid the registration in American dollars we reaped the benefit of the big difference in the currency.


On the first day the hotel put out the muffins we ordered for the 10:30 coffee break with the 8 a.m.coffee by mistake, and we got a second batch of free muffins for the mid morning break. 


We also received a gift from God in the form of a wedding feast for opening evening President's Reception when a wedding was cancelled. 


Another gift was nearly two hours additional hours without charge on a  Dbus tour to Niagara Falls because the driver and tour guide claimed the extra time was such a great blessing to them. Sometimes when God wants to make a point He giveth and giveth and giveth again.

Comments

Dave Hingsburger said…
Isn't there a worry that a coincidence can be 'given' to God. A wedding was cancelled - the back story here is tragedy. Weddings are cancelled, typically, because of illness, death or betrayal ... is the suggestion that God wanted to give a meal to a Christian group so he brought calamity to a hapless couple so he could get their food? I imagine that the bride or groom might find this interpretation really, really, difficult to understand. I understand and agree that God gives gifts, that there is bounty in faith, but I wouldn't want to know a God that would hurt someone to bless me - I just wouldn't. I've tried to read this in differing ways to get that idea out of my head but I couldn't. I know that you, Belinda, are open to this kind of discussion, I'd like to hear more about how you see this ...
7:27 PM
Dave Hingsburger said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
7:27 PM
Belinda said…
You know, Dave, I wrestled with this before posting. I think now that adding a note about that at the beginning might have been wise because the same thought occurred to me.

This is what I thought but didn't say and probably should have:
The fact that a wedding was canceled was tragic.
But out of a bad thing like a canceled wedding, a bunch of poor social workers were blessed. If the wedding had to be canceled, that they were the recipients was God's bounty. I don't think God orchestrated a wedding into failute in order to do that. He is able to provide in any way he wishes.

I also struggled in the same vein with my story of blessing at the conference. I only know what happened and that everyone there was amazed. There were much more deserving people there and I don't know why I was the object of such blessing but I was.

Rabbi Kushner talks about this in one of his books. He said that he doesn't even like to thank God for saving him from natural disasters when they happen, because someone else wasn't saved and that makes God into a whimsical God. It gets complicated!

I thank God for his mercies and blessings knowing that "he works all things together for good." even in bad circumstances.

I hope my thoughts make sense. Bottom line, I can still totally see your point.
10:51 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Voyage

Image
Note from Belinda: I read this prayer yesterday and again today--and then I read it to Susan after cell group, when we were having our "second cup" of decaff coffee together. I knew that she'd love it. She has a framed picture on her office wall of a little blond haired girl in a sail boat on a stormy sea. A fatherly sailor,with a weather beaten face; in a gray sou'wester, holds her close, as he capably mans the tiller. This prayer reminds me of that picture and influenced what I wrote earlier today, when I used the metaphor of ebbing waves to describe a lack of consistency and my desire to crash over the sandbar into the peaceful pool on the other side.  ( Susan sent me a link to the painting, which was done by American impressionist Robert Reid in 1888.  It hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in NYC.) Be bless ed by the beauty of this prayer. OH LORD OF THE OCEANS, My little bark sails on a restless sea, Grant that Jesus may sit at the ...
Read more

Ere Zij God--Glory to God in the Highest! A Dutch Carol

Image
By Belinda This beautiful Dutch carol was shared today by a friend of Dutch ancestry, on Facebook. I had never heard it before but absolutely loved it. It moved me deeply, especially at the end after the crowd leaves the church and then breaks into spontaneous singing again around a brazier, with the sound of chiming church bells in the background. Listen to it with headphones or a good speaker to get the full effect of the harmonies. And happy first Sunday in Advent!
Read more

Samson Beaver and his Family

Image
I first posted this in 2009, a little show and tell about one of my favourite photographs. Back then it hung on a wall, but now it's in my bathroom where I see it every morning! I'd forgotten the history behind the story, researched when I first posted this and thought that current readers might enjoy it--a story from a time when this land was still being discovered, not so very long ago. This photograph was taken by Mary Schaffer; artist, photographer, writer and naturalist, in 1907. It is of a Stoney Indian named Samson Beaver, with his wife Leah and daughter, Frances Louise. I bought the photo on a postcard, on a trip to British Columbia and it hangs framed, on the wall I face when sitting at my laptop. I love it. Don't you just feel as if you could gather Frances Louise up in your arms and cuddle her? I get a deep sense of peace and happiness when I look at this family, sitting in the grass of a long ago fall. They are dressed in their best, beautiful c...
Read more