“This is the one I esteem:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.”
Isaiah 66:2b
A plea to my Sunday morning Bible study class for a
new refrigerator for the local foster girls’ emergency shelter ignited a
passion to help. We passed a basket around
the room enthusiastically and, sure enough, sufficient money for the refrigerator
was collected. We were thrilled!
The following Sunday the class received a report
that our gift had been purchased, delivered, and gratefully received by the
shelter staff. I caught myself sighing
in relief and felt certain I observed similar responses from around the room. We
felt good. We had made a difference.
That was so
easy and painless. Now that’s done we can move on and resume our comfortable
lives. We’ve done our good deed for a while.
Not so. God was just beginning to awaken our
complacent and puffed up hearts. The refrigerator was the first step of a
radical new journey for several in our class. But God had plans beyond a new
appliance for homeless teen girls. These abused adolescents had deeper needs
than we could provide for on our own. He had plans for us, too.
He wanted our entire beings. Most of all, He wanted
us to acknowledge our dependence on Him. Would we keep faith-walking with Him
on a path that required a giving completely of ourselves? We would, and three
years later, we stand on land generously donated for the building of a safe refuge
for at-risk foster girls. Hope Haven of
East Texas was formed as a non-profit organization to build a
Christ-centered and loving place for them to live long-term. This time God was
cheerfully given all the credit for accomplishing more abundantly than we ever
imagined possible!
Sometimes it’s easier and more comfortable to give
money or do something, but that isn’t what God desires most. He esteems those
who are humble and whose hearts break over the things that break His heart.
Lord, may we
bless You through our humility, brokenness, and by taking You at Your word.
Karen Sims
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