I went to my great aunt's 90th birthday party last week. There must have been over 200 people there to celebrate her! Her kids had printed placemats with vintage photos of her life, and a continual loop slide show displayed photos from her past 90 years.
While we all ate cake, her family opened up the mic for people to speak. Person after person got up and the continuing theme throughout the day was how Aunt Louise had helped them in some way. She shared her food. She shared her wisdom. She shared her time. Aunt Louise has spent a lifetime giving from her heart, and because of that a huge ballroom full of family and friends turned up - many from out of state - to attend her birthday party. Aunt Louise is wise, and people desire what she has to offer.
James 1:5 promises If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But what are we to do with that wisdom once we get it? I believe it's for sharing. For helping others when we recognize a need. It can be the awesome task of traveling to Africa to open a mission school, or the simple task of recognizing that your neighbor could use a home-cooked meal.
We never know when what we have to give, is just what the receiver needs. In God's orchestrated plan, we might feel like such a minute part that we never even realized we have been the butterfly who flapped her wings and caused the windstorm on the other side of the world. It's the ripple effect; the pay-it-forward. The warm meal you brought your neighbor maybe gave her the reserves to visit with her teenage granddaughter, who happened to need someone to talk to that day regarding the bully at school, and decided not to go home and take her life after all. We sometimes don't know what's beyond the obvious, or, for that matter, who we may be helping.
Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. - Heb. 13:12
