Steve Sjogren: Think small

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. Isaiah 55:8

“I have given up on trying to do big things for God. I’ve come to this conclusion: All that counts is out attempts at small things done with faithfulness to God over the long haul. When we attempt to do big things for God, more often than not we end up bringing glory to ourselves, and that not only doesn’t count for God, but it also looks ridiculous.”

Steve Sjogren in Conspiracy of Kindness: A Unique Approach to Sharing the Love of Jesus (Bloomington: Bethany, 2003) 239-240.

I am at that point in our vacation where I am starting to look ahead, starting to think about the days after our holiday. This morning in the quietness of my hotel room, the Spirit led me to “think small” because God’s ways are the opposite of man’s ways.

After this special family holiday, my prayer for myself, for Jenni, for Sammy, and for Sophie is that we will return to the four paths on which God has each of us and attempt small things with faithfulness so that our generosity brings glory to God.

Make it so Lord Jesus!

She watches over the activities of her household and is never idle. Proverbs 31:27

“Get a notebook for keeping holiday info. Write down everything that you would like to do, circle the really important stuff, and then cut back on the rest or cross it off your list altogether. Use the rest of the pages in your notebook to write out in simple do-able terms how to accomplish your holiday plans.”

Lori Byerly in The Generous Wife (Austin: Karis, 2004) 167.

This New Zealand vacation has been awesome because of the generous work Jenni put into the planning process. She created a holiday plan with the key activity (or activities) for each day, driving distances, lodging options, and helped make our time together in Middle Earth unforgettable.

In gratitude I just purchased this book for her on Amazon. Generously planning holidays with your family requires more than financial planning; it calls couples to thoughtfully schedule activities. The more generous we are in the preparation, the more blessing our family receives on the adventure.

Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. Psalm 145:3

“When the Bible writers call God good, they are thinking of all those things about His character which we admire: His perfection, His compassion, His mercy, His grace, and perhaps most of all, His generosity.

Whatever God is, He is abundantly! God is good in a generous way. That means God loves to lavish upon His children that which blesses them. God is blessed in His life when He brings joy and blessing to those who depend on Him for sustaining grace.

Just as we have a real sense of joy in our hearts when we are able to do something good for another person, God has an intense joy in His heart as He expresses His goodness to all of us.”

David Jeremiah in reading for 28 May of Sanctuary: Finding Moments of Refuge in the Presence of God (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2011).

We have safely arrived in Queenstown. Thanks to Hilton points we will enjoy five nights in the Doubletree here! The unseasonably warm weather has started to turn cooler. Today we did nothing but walk around town sip coffee in a town known for its coffee (I wore my “All I need is Jesus & coffee” t-shirt).

Our hearts are filled with awe as we reflect on greatness of God and His generosity toward us as a family. We’ve had safe travels and made priceless memories. The idea of God’s unsearchable goodness also resonates with us because the scenery has been stunning. We took the header photo this week from the summit of Mt. Sunday (a.k.a. “Edoras” looking across Rohan toward Helm’s Deep, scenes from “The Two Towers” movie). God is more good and amazing than even the most spectacular scenery because He made and sustains it all by His grace!

On this journey we have experienced together that His generosity is truly unsearchable. The implications of this are endless, but most pointedly, it means that we can depend on His sustaining grace for everything, everywhere, all the time. Thanks to His sustaining grace, there is peace in a world filled with uncertainty, and not just peace, there is enjoyment and rest.

Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do…Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. Ecclesiastes 9:7; 11:1-2

Before you consider today’s meditation, remember who “Qohelet” is. Ecclesiastes was written by a king in Israel named “Qohelet” typically understood to be Solomon. I chose to explore enjoyment and generosity in Qohelet’s thinking because of his wisdom, and was amazed at what I discovered with the help of researcher, Eunny P. Lee, while the family was sleeping this morning in New Zealand.

“An individual’s enjoyment must never come at the expense of the neighbor, but must instead promote the same possibilities for the neighbor. Qohelet’s first refers to “bread” in his exuberant call to celebrate life in 9:7: “go, eat your bread with gladness.” Each subsequent occurrence then sheds further light on how that bread is to be appropriated…

Qohelet in effect portrays and condemns irresponsible forms of feasting, which impede a person’s capacity to fulfill one’s social and moral obligations. He suggests that anyone who has the means of enjoyment must exercise moral stewardship over those means…

Qohelet does not stop with his denunciation of deviant forms of enjoyment. He offers a constructive ethic as well. In contrast to the reckless self-indulgence of the immoral, the ethical life is characterized by a recklessness of a very different sort–by spontaneous and lavish generosity toward others.

Immediately following his invective against the ruling class, he gives the positive exhortation to “release our bread upon the water” (11:1a) and “give a portion to seven, and even eight.” This is what one ought to do with one’s bread…

One’s portion and one’s “bread” are God-given provisions. Whenever they are in one’s possession, they should be enjoyed with relish; they should also be gladly released for the benefit of others.

In other words, the generosity of God must engender a generosity in those who have received of the divine bounty. This derivative generosity then becomes a further investment in joy…enjoyment is not complete until it is shared.”

Eunny P. Lee in The Vitality of Enjoyment in Qohelet’s Theological Rhetoric (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2005) 133-134.

While on this New Zealand trip we have relished enjoyment like never before, but we have also experienced it in moderation. In other words, there are many things we could have done that we chose not to do. Planning helped us approach each day with limits and intentionality.

The blessings of life are intended to be both relished and released. What will we do with the resources we don’t spend? After a time of relishing enjoyment, I think we will make our enjoyment complete by practicing some reckless generosity when we get home.

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Colossians 3:2

“Generous American experience happiness in a different way–their lives and far from perfect, but genuine contentedness is present. They also trust that the world is an abundant place full of blessings, a world in which they can rest easy.

In contrast, by the lights of ungenerous American, there are many way to be unhappy, to live an unfulfilled life. The possibilities for how unhappiness can manifest itself in the lives of the ungenerous people whom we interviewed seem endless. Charting the course for a good life–one that is happy, vibrant, and fulfilling–is, in fact, difficult. This is especially true when the farthest sight on the horizon is an acquisitive American dream of picket fences, shiny new cars, and white-sand vacations.

Of course, these are some of the comforts and privileges that most of the people we interviewed want out of life, including those who are generous. But we observe a crucial difference between people who practice generosity and those who do not.

Generous Americans have many desires that are not materialistic and actively seek non-materialistic means to happiness in relationships and communities. Their lives are about much more than accumulating token middle-class belongings.

Generous American cannot always articulate it, but the pattern of their approach to life, as evidenced in our interviews, suggests that their pursuit of a good life involves much more than the enjoyment of earthly pleasures.”

Christian Smith and Hilary Davidson in The Paradox of Generosity: Giving We Receive, Grasping We Lose (New York: OUP, 2014) 163.

I love it when research affirms what we are learning on our generosity journey. We like to say that we pour God’s money into mission (giving to things God cares about), memories (spending money on special occasions like this family New Zealand trip), and of course, the basic things we need for life.

The findings of Smith and Davidson advise readers to “actively seek non-materialistic means to happiness” which seems to echo the Apostle Paul in his clear instructions to the Colossians. We say a hearty “Amen” from down under!

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. Matthew 6:31-32

“We do not feel we have “enough.” No matter how much we have we want more. We tell ourselves that more is the answer. But is it? Prosperity is spiritual, not fiscal…”Put aside a little something for a rainy day,” we are taught. Financial woes are the cloud on our horizon. Just like that “bad” weather, fiscal insecurity is bound to come. Our hearts are clenched against the disaster we fear is looming. We may have enough for today but what about tomorrow? …

What if our fearful perceptions are wrong? We have been okay so far and we may yet be okay…”Perhaps” we say to ourselves, “but it would take an act of God.” Yes and acts of God are beyond number when we are in dire straits. Although we seldom realize it, we can count on them. Instead, consumed with worry about holding on to what we have, we seldom think of God’s helping hand…”

Julia Cameron in The Prosperous Heart: Creating a Life of Enough (New York: Penguin, 2011) 52-54.

As we travel from the top to bottom of New Zealand enjoying rest (which is the peaceful place of perpetual trust in God) and recreation (which we are finding is the enjoyment of God’s creation together from a posture of trust), we have discovered that an enemy of rest and recreation is worry. The antidote is seeking God and trusting in His helping hand.

We have a story to tell about that.

As we travel, all our iPhones are on airplane mode (we never turn them on internationally to avoid roaming fees). So for our planned outings (like a kayak trip that was slated for 17 May and our helicopter ride that was slated for 18 May) I would just give the phone number of the place we were scheduled to stay. Well, yesterday morning the phone rang here at “The Sails Nelson” where we have spent two nights. It was Mike at Reid Helicopters.

“Dr. Hoag, I am calling to say we can take you out today but a storm front is coming in that will cancel the rest of our flights for the week.” We were scheduled to fly the next day. I called our Pelorus River kayak guide (we were slated to ride the barrel run that day) and asked if we could flip our dates (we would be okay to kayak down a river with some rain). It worked. We could flip our reservations. We called Mike back on the hotel phone and were good to go.

Anyway, long story short, thanks to God’s helping hand, we got to do the helicopter ride with a rainy day on the horizon. And it made our drive today heading south along the east coast even shorter after our Pelorus River kayaking adventure in Havelock. We rejoice tonight with gratitude for “God’s helping hand.”

We think the best way to experience rest and enjoyment is to perpetually trust and depend on God’s helping hand.

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. Proverbs 31:26

“Women of a generous spirit nurture the child within them. They know what revitalizes them, and they don’t feel guilty for engaging in healthy play. They recognize the need for relationships with peers that infuse their lives with laughter and mutual encouragement. [Sophie] and [Kathryn] have begun to plug fun evenings into their friendships. Both love movies and talking for hours over coffee…”

Lois Monday Rabey in Women of a Generous Spirit: Touching Others With Life-Giving Love (Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 1998) 125.

I removed the names of two women in this quote and inserted Sophie and one of her many friends as today our daughter celebrated her 19th birthday in Nelson, New Zealand. I use the past tense because we shot the new header photo on our unforgettable helicopter ride to Mt. Owen in Kahurangi National Park where the Fellowship made their way out of the Mines of Moria (without Gandalf).

What’s more beautiful than a woman with generous spirit whose lips drip with wisdom, kindness, and coffee?

That’s Sophie! She playful. She lifts everyone up around her and points them closer to Christ. She loves talking with friends for hours over coffee: the beverage which happens to be one of our strongest father-daughter connections. Happy birthday Sophie! I just committed to giving her monthly gift cards for another year to enjoy and share coffee with those she loves.

Go buy coffee for someone you love today. Visit for more than an hour, and talk about life and faith. Ask how your friend is doing, and what they are learning these days from Jesus. Share openly and transparently. Be sure to get a large coffee so you linger a while.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 2 Peter 1:3

I found this delightful prayer online about enjoyment and generosity which fits perfectly this theme we are exploring…The only edit I made was I changed “Cape Town” to “Queenstown” (our last major South Island destination), so it fits our travel path in NZ.

“Father, I want my hope to be in you, and you alone. For your worth is not tied to anything but your changeless, priceless, matchless glory. And as the God of unsurpassing glory you’ve also chosen to be the God of all-sufficient grace—stunningly generous in the way you relate to us in the gospel, and in everything else. What do we have that we have not received from your hand and heart? You’ve joyfully given us everything we need for life and for godliness, and whatever you give us, you give for our enjoyment.

In times of excess or scarcity, you want us to enjoy what you give us. Indeed, you commend, even command, our enjoyment. Whether it’s a banquet or a biscuit; whether it’s a symphony or the song of a chickadee; whether it’s a trip to Queenstown, or a drive across town for a cup of coffee, enjoyment is not only good, but godly.

Even as you command our enjoyment, you also command our generosity. But the two really aren’t two different things, are they? How can we fully enjoy anything without freely sharing it? The more I understand the gospel the more I believe this, Father. The greatest joy is not found in fearful hoarding, but in cheerful giving—first and foremost in your giving of Jesus to us and for us. Your utter delight is seen most clearly in the generosity of the gospel.

Father, no matter what this crazy economy continues to do, may the measure of our enjoyment be demonstrated in the gladness of our generosity. So very Amen, we pray in Jesus’ benevolent and bountiful name.”

To read Scotty’s 3 August 2010 blog post in it’s entirety, visit “A Prayer about Enjoyment and Generosity” on the Gospel Coalition website. Friend me (Gary Hoag) on Facebook if you want to follow us more closely on our travels and see some pictures as our adventure continues.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Worry leads to anxiety.
Worry fosters practical atheism.
Worry robs us of joy.
Worry foments a scarcity mentality.
Worry blinds us to abundance.
Worry kills extravagance.
Worry compounds insecurity.
Worry activates self-centeredness.
Worry germinates sin.
Worry squelches love.
Worry keeps us from the Kingdom of God.

J. D. Walt in “The 3 Most Practical Words Ever Spoken and 15 Reasons Why” Seedbed Daily Text for 9 May 2016. These are ten fruits of worry. To learn more, read the whole post from J.D. Walt.

A few of these statements jumped out to me as we are having the trip of a lifetime. “Worry kills extravagance” and “Worry squelches love.” We’d never do anything overly special or sacrificial is we were gripped by the scarcity mentality and shackled with worry.

I said I would explore the “enjoyment” facet of generosity in my daily office while in New Zealand, and as I do, I have come to realize that enjoyment is free of worry, rooted in abundance and a key part of life in the kingdom!

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5

“Consumerism is a powerful and deceptive cultural force because it hijacks the basic human need to consume. We all need to consume food and water to live. Additionally, we need to consume materials for clothing, housing and so forth. Consuming is required for life. Consumerism, though, is a force that pushes us to consume far beyond our basic needs and redefines what consuming should mean for us. It is a force that promises personal satisfaction from attaining things and status. It is a force that seeks to make us eternally discontent with what we have. It tells us that we will be happier and more satisfied with life if we have the newest cell phone, the new and improved coffeemaker, a bigger and higher-resolution flat screen TV, or the latest high-tech rain jacket for outdoor adventures.”

Rob Muthiah in The Sabbath Experiment: Spiritual Formation for Living in a Non-Stop World (Eugene: Cascade, 2015) 64.

Muthiah makes a great distinction between consumerism and consuming! We try to live simply, and we packed simply for this trip. We each have a backpack and a carry-on for 14 days, plus only one large checked bag for our fly rods, boots and waders, liquids and snacks. So far we are having an amazing adventure.