Spilling over

I’ve just finished reading “Out of the spin cycle – devotions to lighten your mother load“. Another wonderful book by the very funny and relatable, Jen Hatmaker.

If you give to others, you will be given a full amount in return. It will be packed down, shaken together, and spilling over into your lap. The way you treat others is the way you will be treated. (‭Luke‬ ‭6‬:‭38‬ CEVUK00)

Jen says of Luke 6:38: “But that teensy-tiny part of me that is selfish (roll eyes here) asks, ‘How much can I possibly give before I burn out?” Jesus wisely explains the flip side of the coin. Give and it will be given back. It is replenishable to the degree it is given in the first place: give abundantly, receive abundantly …”

I don’t know about you, but I am so guilty of holding back because I believe I need reserve. “After I’ve done this, I will need energy and time to that” …. And on it goes. Jen explains it like this:

“It is so easy to give like this to our kids/spouse and without our whole attention, shorting them the full measure of affection. None of us mean to, but the enormity of their need is sometimes paralysing. There’s just so much of it. Certainly there are tasks outside… that require our attention… it’s too easy to listen with one ear, to shoo them away, to fill their container as loosely as possible so we can just get through the day.”

Reading Jen’s interpretation of Luke 6:38 reminded me that God has shown me this “spilling over” many times. It has come supernaturally in the form of revived energy when I thought I was done, in time expanding when I was sure it was running out and in the unexpected flow and increase in resources when I worried I would be short.

Jen encourages us to give to others, filling their containers to the brim, “pushing through exhaustion, beyond fatigue and past boundaries – and ours will surely run over too.”