“Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. People curse those who hoard their grain, but they bless the one who sells in time of need. If you search for good, you will find favor; but if you search for evil, it will find you! Trust in your money and down you go! But the godly flourish like leaves in spring. Those who bring trouble on their families inherit the wind. The fool will be a servant to the wise. The seeds of good deeds become a tree of life; a wise person wins friends. If the righteous are rewarded here on earth, what will happen to wicked sinners?”
Proverbs 11:24-31 NLT
A wise person understands that God’s providence cannot be influenced. They understand that their efforts do not influence God off his path. They also separate suffering from blessing. They do not place them on the same spectrum. Therefore, they do not try to hoard blessings or providence. To them, these things are a naturally occurring phenomenon, like the ocean, or the sun. They can be harnessed and preserved but one shouldn’t seek to control them. If we do try to bottle them selfishly, we end up hurting them or our own ability to enjoy them. This is the same with all good things God has made. A wise person enjoys these things for what they are. He shares them as freely as he receives them. He understands what it means to be given them and mimics their overall beneficial qualities. He seeks to spread the wealth, rather than to hoard it. Those who live in God’s blessings do not feel entitled to them. They accept them gracefully and extend them to others the same way. This is an essential aspect of the transmission of the gospel, and we would all do well learn it.
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