The Divine Economy

I want to share with you a story about what I call The Divine Economy.

It’s very clear from the Bible that God wants us who have much to share what we have with those who don’t have much. Here are a couple of verses which I LOVE, that illustrate this:

It is possible to give freely, yet become more wealthy, but those who are stingy will lose everything (Proverbs 11:24)

When you give to the poor, you are giving to God, and He will repay you. (Proverbs 19:17)

I want you to know that God and His Word are true, and I am living proof of the truth of these verses.

The story I’m about to share happened to me in 2011, and I want to make it clear that I don’t intend to sound like I’m boasting. I’m not that foolish, and I know that everything I have and everything I am comes from God.

At the start of 2011 I sponsored seven children with Compassion. I had a nice little secure full-time teaching job at a Lutheran School and I felt like God was pushing me to do more. I got this thought in my head:

“Imagine the impact I could have if I sponsored at least one child from every country Compassion works in” (which at that time was 26). I called it my “Crazy Compassion Plan”, and over the course of the year I put that plan into action and by the end of the year I sponsored 40 children.

Keeping in mind the above verses, during the year the following things happened:

* Soon after I sponsored 10 more kids, I was paid an extra $400 a week by my school for supervising a group of bus travellers before and after school.

* I started up after-school music lessons, and my number of students increased at the same time as my Compassion family increased.

* I made the intentional decision to become debt-free, and was able to pay off a five-figure car loan and my University loan.

* I ended up with more money in the bank at the end of the year than I had at the start.

That, my friends is called the DIVINE ECONOMY. It makes no sense in the common-sensical, scientific, natural world. Normally, the more you spend, the poorer you become financially.

However, what God taught me through this year, is that if you “give freely and receive loosely”, with a generous heart and for the benefit of others, God will bless you. I am proof of that.

And once again, none of this happened BECAUSE of me. God, in His grace and mercy, chose to bless me in this way, because He is true to His Word and His promises. Why not give it a go?