Invest With What We Have

'They gave me a chance when no one else would.' How many success stories have that pivotal point somewhere in the mix?

Trust pays great dividends but it also has great consequences if it is misplaced.

This weekend a was thinking about success stories and great tragedies. These were all things I witnessed with my own eyes. People I know or knew. Some damaged because a loved one trusted the wrong person. Some redeemed because a person made a decision not to 'know someone after the flesh' and 'give them a chance when no one else would' because of belief in a new identity even if that new identity wasn't visible yet.

"In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands..." - 1 Timothy 5:21-22 ESV

'Laying on of hands' speaks of trust and promotion. I have seen men promote other men as a means of investment and it rarely goes well. If authority says, 'We trust this person. They have what is needed.' but they really don't that authority just gets undermined and people get hurt.

"The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender." - Proverbs 22:7 ESV

I saw this passage in a new light this weekend. We give. If we lend then we are making a slave. God gave to those who could never pay Him back. No payment could ever be enough. Grace makes us givers because we have something to give. We never borrow to give. We only give what we have or we become slaves.

Trust works that way also. I can't trust if I have no trust but if I have trust I can trust. If we trust hoping to get something in return it is a counterfeit investment but if we see 'Aaron's rod' bud it means we have something. God gave life to that dead stick and it was a witness. We look for the same witness.

"Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed." - Proverbs 19:17 ESV

Faith in God makes us rich in trust. We have something but we are wise in how we use it. If there is nothing there throwing trust at the situation isn't going to make something happen. But if there is something there... even if it is a smoking flax looking like it is just about to die we can gently use trust to coax that flame back to life.

I marvel at what God entrusts to man. He is amazing really.

Don't we all want to be people who, 'gave someone a chance when no one else would'? I do. I'm just not going to gamble with what doesn't belong to me. I will give away some, or even all, of what does and God has promised He will repay.

Hyper-spirituality is investing what I don't own. Pragmatism is being so poor that I can only operate by my 5 senses. Sowing seeds of grace words and trusting that they won't return void is the place where miracles can happen because God is present in the investment.

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