God’s Unexpected Generosity To Us

Have you ever stopped to look back at all of the ways in which God had been generous to the Israelites? There are the obvious forms of generosity, like sending his only son to teach us about how we can receive eternal life with God. And then in order to pay the price for that gift, this man openly chose to die on a cross he did not deserve. I think you and I can agree that this is the ultimate act of generosity. 

But despite it being the right time of the year to celebrate Jesus, I actually want you to consider all of the forms of generosity in your life that may not seem so obvious. 

Almost 7 years ago I received news that I had torn my ACL (the ligament that connects the thigh bone to the shinbone, at the knee). The news at the time was crushing… Here I was, a midwestern girl who had moved to Colorado for college to be in the mountains and enjoy all of the outdoor physical activities I so loved! 

I reread some of my journal entries from that time period and I wrote things like “Who am I without my ability to ski or run or workout the way I want to?”

What was so fascinating to reread was the transformation that happened as I prepared to get surgery to repair my torn ACL… My time was freed up on the weekends, since I wasn’t spending every moment skiing or hiking anymore. Instead, I turned my attention toward plugging in to my church. I became involved in a small group, and started volunteering on the coffee team early Sunday mornings. 

Several months after getting the news that I had torn my ACL, I realized two major lessons… 

The first was that even though I didn’t love that it happened, this was actually one of the sweetest blessings God had given me. 

God knew exactly what I needed… I needed the time to reconnect with him on a deeper level. Sure, he could have told me in other ways, but I think he saw this as the perfect opportunity to show me that my identity is not in what I do. 

It was the kind of generosity that I simply didn’t recognize until after it had passed. I want to be better at realizing those times where God is being generous to me, even if it doesn’t initially look like a gift. 

How about you? 

– Katie Jones

P.S. I’ll share with you lesson number 2 next week. Be on the lookout – because I think that this is a lesson you and I both need to hear often!