Give What You Have

“Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have, I give to you.  In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”  Acts 3:6

This verse from Acts has circulated my home and classroom for a week.  We studied how the Holy Spirit empowered the apostles to do amazing things to draw crowds so they could hear Peter tell them that Jesus is Lord of all.  Masses of people became believers through this ministry of the Holy Spirit. 

These weekly Bible lessons are the norm around here and last week was a fairly typical week for us.  We progressed through our normal rhythm:  lessons, activities, family time, etc., yet I felt busier than ever.  I was pulled in many different directions all without feeling I was accomplishing anything.  What were usually benign requests (“Will you cut my toast?” “Help me find my shoes? and “Will you read me another story?”) all carried extra weight that only added to me feeling overwhelmed and inadequate to meet even the simplest needs of my family.  The benign requests were really requests for my time, and while I recognized that, I thought that I just couldn’t do or provide one more ounce of me.   

I wondered if Peter ever felt inadequate.  He was commissioned to go and preach the gospel to all nations (Matt.28:19) which is a pretty tall order for a band of 11 men.   I wondered, while walking up to the temple to pray that day in Jerusalem, seeing the massive crowds, if he felt overwhelmed by the enormity of his commissioning.  With this weight upon him, how would he respond to a simple, repetitive request for money from a lame beggar? 

The answer he gave to this man satisfied my soul.  He did not give what the man asked for, but instead gave what he did have to give:  Jesus.  Peter, poor, persecuted, but empowered by the Holy Spirit, knew the man’s cries were for something greater than silver or gold or even healing for his legs.  It was healing for his soul, found in knowing Jesus. 

What I absorbed from Peter’s response is that there are just some needs I cannot meet. I do not have the “silver and gold” to satisfy the multiple requests that come from multiple directions within my family and beyond.  I do know, because God has healed my mind and soul through the love and forgiveness of Jesus, that the core need of these requests can only be met by Jesus. 

When I am asked to give something I do not have (even from benign, repetitive requests) will I now respond with frustration, impatience or inadequacy, or instead humbly say, “I can’t help you right now, but we can pray that God will meet your need.”  The ultimate goal, like Peter knew, was to take them to Jesus to satisfy their need.  Now, I don’t have visions of Jesus tying or finding shoes, but I do hope that my children would see how Jesus loves them and wants to help them if they go to Him. 

So what does it mean to “give Jesus?”  when I do not have “silver and gold” to give?  Ultimately, it is sharing the gifts I myself have received from Him.   In Peter’s encounter with the lame man, he gives what he has received from Jesus: “What I do have, I give to you.”  What are some of those things as a believer I have received from Jesus?  Love.  Hope.  Peace.  Forgiveness of sins.  Belonging.  Joy.  Self-control.  Courage.  Perseverance.  

On those days when everyone seems to be begging for me at once, I want to ask for wisdom for two main things:  1) to see the true need and 2) to demonstrate a reliance on God to meet that need.   My commissioning, just as Peter’s, is to make disciples of Jesus, demonstrating that HE not ME is “the Way, the Truth, the Life.” (John 14:6)  When I trust Him to meet the needs of others, I give what I have received: faith that He meets all my needs according to His riches in glory. (Phil 4:19)

In the moments when the “tyranny of the urgent” or even the grind of the daily tasks loom ahead, I pray that I will remember Peter and the lame man, and respond by giving Jesus.

Acts 3:1-16

1. How do you respond when you feel unfit for a task or request? Why?
2. How does Peter’s response to the lame man reflect Peter’s dependence on God?
3. How do you reflect your own dependence on God to those around you?
4. What are some of the most meaningful gifts you have received from God? 
5. Is there a particular situation in which you are struggling to rely on God to meet a need for someone else?
6. In your situation, how can you, like Peter, demonstrate that God will meet needed for that circumstance? 
7. What have you received from Jesus that you can give?