“Then Pharaoh said, ‘Go to Joseph…’ and Joseph opened all the storehouses…” Genesis 41:54-56
Years ago, when we realized that work was becoming scare Bruce told me that he had started a file which included devotionals about trusting in the tough times…the confusing times…the times of lean and lack. The resources were all very encouraging and I was glad he was surrounding himself with words of hope and God’s faithfulness. But I didn’t really understand what his motivation was until he told me one day. He shared with me that it was a collection of resources that he could share with others who might be going through the same thing. That touched my heart to realize what he was doing with his tough years to impact others. Like Joseph who collected the grain and stored them up for a future famine for others, Bruce stored up encouragement in his storehouse even though he was living in lack. Over the next 3-4 years I know that many people have benefited from him opening the doors of his storehouse.
Kelly Minter, author of Finding God Faithful writes about the importance of what we gather and store up for eternal purposes. She encourages us to leverage our gift of influence with the spiritual things such as our time and our resources. She exhorts us to recognize that the most profound gift God has given us to give to the world is His Spirit. She reminds us to remember that God has given us everything we have and has brought us to where we are. What we store up will be what we hand out to others. Have we stored up bitterness…division…jealousy? Or have we stored up grace…wisdom…compassion? When others come to us for encouragement will we share the flesh or the Spirit? For the couple whose marriage was reconciled, be the storehouse of wisdom for another couple whose marriage is struggling. For the lonely heart, be a storehouse of companionship. For the poor, be a storehouse of resources. For the frightened parent of a prodigal, be the storehouse of hope for their hearts. As believers, we all have a story of lean and lack, and messages from the messes we have created.
We have a responsibility as Christians to bring comfort to the hurting and compassion to the suffering. None of us need to look very far to see people standing in line for hope…people desperately needing comfort…people paralyzed by their circumstances who need words of freedom. We all carry within us the Spirit of God who comforts us. We are to share with others what we have been given from God.
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