A Tale of Two Cities
Tim is Senior Pastor of Gas Street Church
2 Corinthians 8:1-2 (NIV)
And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.
Charles Dickens starts his book, the ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ with these words: ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times … it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.’
These words ring true today. All around we find joy, delight, wonder and hope. And yet, at the same time, we experience loss, anxiety, confusion and despair. Personally, I’ve never felt more encouraged by what I’m seeing God do around us. But it’s never felt harder to live as a follower of Christ.
When challenges land on our doorstep, it's easy to step back and hit the self-preservation button. We feel a bit bruised, discouraged and unsure. We then start to hold back. We pray less passionately. We reduce our expectations of what God can do. We’re slower to serve and then often we’re more reluctant to give.
Paul, in this letter to the Corinthians, is encouraging the church to learn from the Macedonians, who amidst severe trials, chose joy. And out of extreme poverty allowed rich generosity to overflow.
In these most challenging of days, we need, more than ever, to rise up in generosity. To give when it hurts. To serve when we don’t feel like it. To choose faith over fear.
Over the last two years, I’ve personally found giving more challenging than ever before. The financial strains are real! And yet Rachel and I have chosen to keep giving as generously as we can, because we passionately believe that is the right and godly thing to do, knowing that our giving is building our lives on the foundation of Jesus and, wonderfully, is releasing heavenly blessing here on earth.
Prayer - Lord amid all the challenges, help me to put my trust in you. Help me to always be generous, compassionate and expectant that you can always work through my struggles and insufficiency.