Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything. 2 Corinthians 6:10
“Faith maketh us truly rich; it is the open hand of the soul, to receive all the bounteous supplies of God. If we be empty and poor, it is not because God’s hand is straitened, but ours is not opened. A man may be poor notwithstanding the abundance of wealth: it putteth a difference between you and others for a while, but in the grave the poor and the rich meet together…that is, all are in the same estate without difference . . . It is grace alone that will make you to excel . . . Well, then, you that are poor, do not envy others’ plenty; you that are rich, do not please yourselves in these enjoyments. They are neither true riches, neither can you always call them your own.”
Thomas Manton (1620-1677) in The Complete Works of Thomas Manton, D.D.: With a Memoir of the Author, Volume 4 (London: Nisbet, 1871) Page 195, Observation 4.
We have had an amazing trip serving in Budapest, and we are flying home this morning. We have three flights. These flights provide a good word picture for the temporary nature of wealth. Some flights we get a bad seat, cramped between two people or with little leg room. Other times we get a great seat with much comfort and space. In neither case should we get too comfortable or call it our own because our situation is temporary. So where should our focus be? We are learning that we must open our hands to God for the bounteous supply of the true riches of faith. This shapes both how we experience the present, that is, our contentment and generosity, and how we will spend eternity.
Sometimes we even realize we have been placed in a seat to dispense true riches to others. Funny the adventure flights can be! Let us open our hands to the bounteous supplies of God so we are abundantly resourced for life as a journey of generosity.