Richard Lee - From Fear to Blessings

I thought it was a crazy idea to host random strangers in our home.  What about security?  What about the risks?  How would I be able to keep my home/family safe?  But then I thought and prayed about it and realized that my whole life is truly not in my own hands.  My attempt at control, keeping things "safe" are really not things that I have full control over.  God is truly in control, HE is safe, He's kept me and my family safe and keeps blessing us even though I don't really deserve it.  That's God's grace to me.  So why am I trying to hoard that grace for myself and my family?  Why am I so tight fisted about the things that God has blessed us with?  When I started to unclench my fists, that's when God started blessing more!  It doesn't make worldly sense, but that's the wonder of faith in God.  He opened my eyes to what the "stranger" wants, which is exactly what I wanted - a safe place to live, a place to call home, a place to rest.  That's what we all want, so why could I not share that with other people who are in much greater need?  Why couldn't I bless others as God as blessed me?  

 

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.  Malachi 3:10 

 

Am I willing to give even a tenth of what God has given me to him, only to have him pour out so much blessing that I would not be able to store it all?  That's the challenge, can I outgive God in my attempt to hold onto what I mistakenly believed is mine?  God blesses those who are faithful and obedient to him.  I am attempting to do this more and more and God continues to bless more and more.