Bucketfuls of Grace
Well now, friend, you’ve arrived like a reak gentle breeze rustlin’ through the oak trees bringin’ just enough calm to remind us that God is still in the business of blessin’. So, pull your chair right on up to the edge of this here front porch because what I’m about to share hit me yesterday with the force of a lil’ ol’ squirrel that leaped out of a pecan tree and nearly landed right on top of my head. I was watchin’ that little ol’ rascal stuff its cheeks like it was sho’-nuff’ preparin’ for the winter of all winters, and I thought, “Lord, that lil’ ol’ critter sure knows how to live in abundance.” And right then, I realized, “That’s just exactly how God gives.” Deuteronomy 28:11, says, “The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity.” Not skimpy. Not stingy. Abundant. And Psalm 36:8 backs it up by saying, “They feast on the abundance of Your house.” Friend, God absolutely does not deal in little, tiny teaspoons. He deals in overflowing bucketfuls.
Just take a lil’ ol’ moment to look around you. Did God create only one star? No. He flung millions of stars across the sky like an ol’ farmer scatterin’ seed with a joyful arm. Did He make only one flower? No. He made fields full of ‘em, each one dressed better than a beautiful peacock all dressed in its best feathers and struttin’ across the barnyard in full plumage. Did He make only one kind of critter? No siree. He plum made everything from the lowly, wiggly earthworm that tills the soil to the ferocious, black bear that lumbers through the woods like it thinks it owns the place. God just don’t operate on a bare minimum budget. He’s the God of more.
John 1:16 tells us, “Out of His fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.” That there means God don’t just hand out grace like a miser counting pennies. He plum pours it out like a summer rain that soaks into everything in sight. And Ephesians 3:20 reminds us He is able to do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.” More than we could ever be askin’ for. More than we could ever even dream of. More than we can ever begin to wrap our minds around.
But here’s the part that plum gets me every time. God don’t just want us to receive His generosity. He wants us to be reflectin’ it. Generosity just ain’t something God does occasionally. It’s plum who He is. And He wants it to be who we are, too. When we give, we git to lookin’ like our Father. When we pour out, we join right on in with the flow of His abundance. When we bless others, we become some of those livin’ reminders that God is plum still in the business of doin’ big, beautiful, overflowin’ things.
Lord, make me generous like You. Help me give freely, love deeply, and bless boldly. Let my life reflect Your abundance in every way. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Well, there you have it, friend. So, you gotta be rememberin’ that our good God’s generosity just ain’t no kind of fragile like a dried out, old biscuit that crumbles when you pick it up. It’s real sturdy and plum overflowing like a creek after a big ol’ spring rain. When life gits to feelin’ tight or resources git to feelin’ real thin, lift your eyes up to the One who fills barns, the fields, the hearts, and the hands. And when you give, even in smallest of ways, you join with Him in scatterin’ wonderful blessin’s like a joyful lil’ ol’ farmer who plum knows that the harvest will be abundantly more than enough.
With joy,
Gwen
