Some love to be givers
Others thrive as takers
Some love to abound
Others thrive when abased
Some love to go
Others thrive in returning
Up or down, here and there
It doesn’t really matter
High or low, now and again
Grace makes all the difference
Some people are givers while some are takers. It’s typically a fluid line where people at varying points in time have to give and to receive. Nevertheless, there are those who love to be the givers. They enjoy reaching out to others out of their abundance. There are also those who find joy in giving out of their meagre means. For some givers, things take a different turn when they have to be on the receiving end. While there are those who will be elated at receiving even though they are used to being on the giving end, some may feel offended and wounded when they have to receive from others.
Turn the table and you are staring at the other end, at those who enjoy taking whether they need it or not. However it comes, they just take. They take from those who have and from those who don’t. They take what is offered and demand what is withheld. If they come across you and there’s nothing to be taken from you, they don’t feel normal. Their norm is defined by what they can get and the more the better.
Receiving is the other part of giving and not the same as taking. The giver makes the first move. Receiving is a response. It does not accompany demand. It does not follow requests and is often not channeled to meet expectations. Receiving is the end and completion of giving. As earlier stated, while some people feature majorly as givers (either voluntarily to meet a need or in obedience to some leading) and others as takers (seeking out what they want and make the move to get it), receiving stands out. Giving is incomplete if it is not received. Whereas we feel delighted to make the first move and give, the cycle is only complete when the receiver accepts what has been offered. God has designed life such that we all have to give and to receive at different times under varying circumstances.
Life experiences teach that no extreme is any good to anybody. We all need balance. Like my sister would say, “God is using life experiences to teach us balance so that whether we abound or are abased, whether we are up or down, on the giving or receiving end, we take each by grace. It may be easy to give out of our sufficiency but it takes grace to give through our needs. It may be easy to receive from those who are better positioned than we are but it takes grace to receive from those whose needs are right before our eyes. Giving or receiving, God has created each situation for our enrichment.
To every giving, there is a reward. And for every giving, there has to be a receiving for the cycle to be completed. God created the paths of giving and receiving as a means to our enlargement. Unfortunately, these noble paths are continually abused like every other, yet that doesn’t diminish the blessedness of it all. I have experienced that giving through my need, in obedience to God’s guidance (and not to make an impression or please others,) creates room for extraordinary returns. When we go beyond the humanly expected, in trust and obedience to God, defying our aching and wailing needs, giving when it hurts, God goes beyond our expectations and reaches those parts of our lives that norms can’t attend.
When we allow those who don’t seem to have enough to reach out to us, we are not only enriched, our receiving makes room for their giving to be rewarded. I have seen this exploited to the hurt of those involved. Yet, it doesn’t change the truth that whenever we go out of our ways to give or to receive, grace overflows our boundaries. There is this family in a wonderful situation that I support. Every month as the deposit is confirmed, the dad calls to say thank you. I have pleaded again and again for him not to bother. It is something I know God wants me to do so I really don’t need to be appreciated for that obedience. Thanking me won’t change anything and I would rather they spared the money spent calling me every month. But this man refused to give up those monthly calls and text messages.
I quit taking the calls to save them that little money that I felt could make some difference. I recall one time, after several calls, he sent a text message, “Blessed are those who take their calls for they shall be informed that their message has been received.” That cracked me up but in the middle of that laughter, I sensed God’s admonition, “What is that call to you in comparison to what it means to him and his family? How would you feel if you are reaching to bless and it is being blocked? That is pity not love – loving accommodates all in spite of all.”
Since then, I have learned to give when God directs and not deny whoever God prods to bless me, the opportunity. I have learned not only to reach out but also to allow myself to be reached, and to thoroughly enjoy the blessedness of each. To you, it may be nothing but to the giver, it is a lot and the way it is received says it all. It takes grace to give and to receive, big or small, without offense and without defense.
Glory!