Investing in People

God will provide resources for us so that we can bless others with what He has provided.  2nd
Corinthians 9 reminds us of how our heart condition can govern how we allocate what He has given:
7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

We can place ourselves in a position to receive the provision of the Lord, and then, allow Christ to direct how we glorify Him with what He has given.  There may be open doors that come our way through which we can share the love of Christ.  We may become aware of a need and realize that God has given us the capacity to meet that need.  It's an incredible privilege to be part of God's plan and to flow in the activity of the Spirit!

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We are called to be containers of the matchless love of God, allowing His love to flow through us not only in our personal demeanor of kindness we show, but sometimes by being willing to share with others what God has given to us.  Remember the words of 1st John 3:
16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17 But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?
18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

The 4 Star Diner in Roland, Texas might seem to be an unlikely place to attract national attention for a God-sighting, but it happened.  A Fox News story relates that Brenda Pearson was working on the night of Mother's Day when a truck driver named David Platt stopped in and ordered a cheeseburger to go.

Platt told her he wished to leave Brenda a tip - of $1,000!  The story says:

...I couldn't believe it. I couldn't hardly breathe. It took my breath away," Pearson told 5 News KFSM.

Platt said after talking with Pearson a bit, he thought she could use the money. "We talked about the Lord and about her life and her children. I got the impression that she was having a hard time of it, so I thought I'd just help her out a little bit," he told 5 News.

That's an amazing story in and of itself.  But there's more!

David came back to the diner an hour later - he ordered pie...and blessed Brenda again!  With another thousand-dollar tip.

Platt is quoted as saying: "Money is just paper or numbers on a screen," adding, "Self-gratification only goes so far. So, when you're helping another person, you're adding something to the world. It's an investment and people, people are what's important."

Pearson says she'll use the money to pay bills and to help her children and family out.

This David Platt, like the better-known Baptist minister, believes in giving of himself, as a demonstration of the love of God.  We see that God gave David the resources to help a woman out.  We can take stock of our own resources - perhaps financial, perhaps time, maybe ability, and determine what He's given us in order to bless someone else.

David Platt entered the diner, perhaps not knowing that there was a ministry opportunity,  and he entered into conversation:  as he related, he and Brenda "talked about the Lord," he listened to her story, and he learned about her need.  Of course, he responded when he received the news.

This can remind us that we can perfect the craft of listening - that can help us to identify a need so that we can relate our story of God's faithfulness, and perhaps even be used to help contribute to a practical solution to a situation.

We can be challenged to put our hearts in a right position, so that when we receive the provision of the Lord, we can be obedient to Him to know what to do with what He has given.