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A WINNING COMBINATION

Now I want to tell you, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done for the churches in Macedonia . Though they have been going through much trouble and hard times, their wonderful joy and deep poverty have overflowed in rich generosity. – 2 Corinthians 8:1-2 (NLT)

            When we allow God to have full reign over our hearts, it is amazing what He can accomplish. We often perceive our ability or inability to serve others based on what we lack rather than what we have in our possession.

            Paul describes the Macedonian churches' response to his appeal for financial help for the Christ followers in Jerusalem . If we were to view their response as a mathematical formula it would look something like this: Trouble and Hard Times + Wonderful Joy + Deep Poverty = Rich Generosity. Viewing this through eyes that do not see as God sees would lead us to believe that the only positive factor in this equation is Wonderful Joy. Yet, it is joy combined with trouble, hard times, and poverty that led these Christians to give generously. These believers saw God even in the struggle and it caused them to have hearts that overflowed for others who were in need, even though their own need was great. Often our hearts are refined in the furnace of misfortune when we allow God to speak to us through the hardship we are experiencing.

PRAYER THOUGHT: Lord, use my struggles to make me better instead of bitter.