An Indescribable Gift!

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work…Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion…This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God…And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” 2 Co. 9:8-15

I am aware that today’s passage is lengthy but necessary to see the application of Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth. The Word is active and alive in each of our lives today just as much as it was in Paul’s time. The answer is in the application to our circumstances.

As I was standing in line at the funeral home after my dad died I looked up to see a couple in line who had lost their 15 year old daughter in a tragic automobile accident less than 3 months prior to my dad’s passing. I was standing in the very room where they had received family and friends during the worst time of their lives. They had been waiting in line for over an hour in the same environment where a small city had come to pay their last respects to the family of a life cut short. I stood amazed that they could pour out their own individual pain and suffering allowing the Holy Spirit to fill them with grace to minister to others. Then I remembered that this is the God we serve.

Our God, who gives indescribable grace through indescribable circumstances, as one servant washes the feet of another. We are unable to accomplish anything on our own but everything through the power and strength of Christ. It dawned on me that as Susan and Chuck returned to that place of sadness and took their place in line they did not stand alone. They stood together in Christ as He used them in their most private pain to minister to others. “But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed…” 2 Tim 4:17

The message was certainly proclaimed that night as two of God’s precious servants poured themselves out as an offering so that God’s glory could be revealed.