“Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again.” (Philippians 4:14–16, ESV)
In the previous post, I shared about some financial struggles that I experienced after starting up my consulting business. I needed to learn many lessons that would prepare me for the ministry.
At the time of these struggles, I was a member of the Gideon’s international. We met every Friday morning to read the Scriptures together and pray. At one of the meetings, I shared a prayer need. I shared that I was desperate for some business and asked that the men would pray that the Lord would send business for the company. The obvious implication was that I was struggling financially. In my entire adult life, I had never been in such a situation.
Well, after the breakfast was over, one of my fellow Gideons shook my hand and in it was a fifty-dollar bill. Now, I had never in my life been in a position where I had to take a handout, not even years before when I was out of work for three months. Yet that fifty was vital because I did not have enough money to purchase groceries for our family. Honestly, it was a humiliating experience. Prior to this, I had been the one helping others and now others were helping me.
My prideful urge was to refuse the gift. However, then I remembered something that a wise pastor once told me. He stated that we should never pull our hand back from the one who would want to bless us. You see, it was the Lord who laid that burden on the heart of that man, just like it was laid on my heart when I saw another in need. What a slap in the face it would be for the gracious person if I refused his offer of benevolence.
Later, after entering the fulltime ministry, I have been blessed by sincere believers in many ways. Some have given my wife and me vacation getaways. Others have given us gifts on special occasions. In these times I thought that I do not deserve such expressions of love. Yet they were doing what the Lord impressed upon their heart. So, I received the gifts graciously with thanksgiving.
In this Passage Paul is extending his gratitude to the Philippian church for their generosity in partnering with him in the gospel ministry. Paul received their gifts with gratitude.
That fifty-dollar gift was a wake-up call for me to overcome pride and be a humble recipient. To reject a gift that is offered would have been to steal a blessing from the one who offered it. We all need to learn this lesson.
Renewing the Heart 