Acts 20 vs 35 ~In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: "It is more blessed to give than to receive.~ I have run with that verse like a freight train all of my life. And now, it is out of track. I take it literally, finding myself uncomfortable in situations where I can't be the giver. And darn near shameful to be the receiver.
The last several months have been a spiral of whammies. I felt like that ~Whack a Mole~ game at the county fair where the heads pop up out of the hole and you hit them before they go back down to score points. During these times I have been inundated with support and caregiving from so many wonderful people in my life.
That verse in Acts kept nagging me this morning after my bible study. When I think of pride, the words that come to mind are haughty and proud. Peeling the onion, I find that the layers of pride run deeper. There is pride also in not allowing ourselves to be on the receiving line of grace and mercy. We aren't just blessed by circumstances, we are blessed by people, his creation. He doesn't send down baskets of bread from the sky anymore or turn water to wine (although he can) He aligns a giver, so that you can be the receiver. Pride in this circumstance would be running away from goodness and mercy.
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