Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.” 2 Kings 4:2
“All the things in this world are gifts of God, created for us, to be the means by which we can come to know Him better, love Him more surely, and serve Him more faithfully. As a result, we ought to appreciate and use these gifts of God insofar as they help us toward our goal of loving service and union with God. But insofar as any created things hinder our progress toward our goal, we ought to let them go.”
Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) in Saints’ Quotes: Holy Quotations for Purification of the Soul, Collection Three.
The heart of this quote is that God wants us to appreciate and use what we have.
It reminded me of our recent reflections on Elijah and Elisha. It was Elisha who said, “Tell me, what do you have in your house?” That question is for all of us.
We must look closely and see what God has given us. Then we ought to appreciate it and use it. Our tendency is toward discontent and because we feel we lack, we fail to use what we have.
Growing in generosity is really about understanding all we have been given and how we are to respond to that. Ponder this and follow the leading of the Spirit to grow.
And say a prayer for me as I head to South Africa today for GTP. I’ll share more about the purpose of my trip in the coming days.
In the meantime, appreciate what you have and use it for God. That’s all I am trying to do. Are you with me?