Submissive hearts and open hands

"Back to the Basics"

Living life with an open hand, or rather open hands is part of the image that comes to my mind when I hear the word generosity. Generosity is a character of God and His spirit. It is a trait of the Spirit that we experience as we know God's generosity and grace to us. Generosity becomes us as we fill up with God and let the goodness we experience overflow to others around us.

But even before that, I have been constantly reminded this week by the fact that we must grasp the sovereignty of God first. It's funny how God works that way, He always makes it clear what He wants me to hear, by repeating the message through many people all in the short span of a few days. He does this without fail. 

I attended this Children's Ministry conference, Vault, this past Saturday as a volunteer. To be honest, I didn't expect to glean much from it, but as always I was pleasantly surprised. The main speaker, Pastor Sam Luce of Redeemer Church in Utica, NY, blew me away. I have never been so gently and humbly challenged in my whole life. I remember thinking during one of his talks that I would listen for part of it, then jet off to look for someone to hang out with or go on my phone. But with every word, I was persuaded to stay in the sanctuary and I'm glad I did. 

The teaching was solid. God's truth was evident and I was blessed by every word that God spoke through this man's mouth. What struck me the hardest was how he opened the day with his "Back to the Basics" message on the sovereignty of God. It was a simple sermon that really had a chance to sink deeply into my heart. 

The fact is, God is sovereign. It means He has the right to do whatever He wants, whenever He wants. He does not need my permission, He does not wait for me to be ready for something, or be expectant of something before He acts. On the other hand, He prepares me, He enables me to enter into His presence and will. God is not commanded or persuaded by my prayers, but rather He changes me through prayer. He is sovereign, He is steadfast, He is the Lord. 

When we let go of our desire for control and realize that we never had control, we can rest in the sovereignty of God. We find peace in Him because we come to know that nothing we have is ours and that truly:

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." (James 1:17)

All things have been given to us, we are not owners but rather caretakers and renters on this planet. Even as Job realized:

"And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”" (Job 1:21)

The things of this world will pass away, that is certain. It is also certain that God is the one who gives the gifts and has the right to take them away. It's hard not to grow attached to the things of this world, and yet we must realize them for what they are, gifts and means to glorify God. We live on borrowed things and borrowed time, but we are absolutely cared for by a loving and sovereign God. 

Living with open hands indicates that we trust in God's sovereign character and that our hands are open to surrender; praising Him, instead of holding onto the things that never really belonged to us in the first place. God's sovereign nature enables and encourages us to be generous. We give freely of ourselves and of our materials not because we believe Jesus was a great role model to emulate, but because we love Jesus, and know that He loves us and is the one who provides. Generosity is found in the overflow of the love we have for Christ the Lord, and in our trust and submission to His sovereignty.