Soft toys is something I’m absolutely crazy about. I treasure them and have a whole collection of them on one side of my bed. Probably it’s the collection I treasure the most. And another thing I treasure a lot is – whatever Dad and Mom have bought me after I started to earn. Probably its because of the love attached with it. They know they don’t have to get things for me anymore but yet they do that. And it means a lot to me.
Last weekend my Dad bought me a very cute soft toy. Now this toy had a special attachment because first of all, it’s a soft toy and secondly because dad bought it for me. And I was so excited about this one. I had bragged and boasted about this so much to my friends. And then the next day God tells me that he wants me to give this soft toy away. Now that had just one answer – No ways, God. Don’t even think about it.
Let me fill you on the background. I had been reading this book “Reduce me to Love” by Joyce Meyer. This book says that the best way we can show someone we love them is by giving to them and this holds true for God as well. The best I can show God that I love him is by giving to him. Joyce says that she practiced to be a giver to show God that she loves him. I had decided then that I too was going to practice to be a giver. I made a mental note of all the clothes, shoes, makeups, things, I don’t use anymore and decided I would give them away. Now God was asking me to give away this soft toy, which was close to my heart, saying that this was an opportunity to show him that I love him.
So finally I decided I would give it away but then there was this feeling of loss, like I had just lost something. And then I remembered something else Joyce writes in the same book – when you give, give gladly and willingly, not in despair, but joyfully. God wanted me to give, and to do so gladly and willingly. I told myself – I better do it joyfully cos definitely God would return it back in double measure or probably 10 times more. Yeah, now I was glad to give. But then God told me something – ‘what if I don’t give you anything in return? I want you to give gladly, expecting nothing in return, with just the motive of showing me that you love me’. Well, now that was something. To make a long story short, I did give the soft toy away, but I felt an abundant joy in me the moment I gave it away. Like my heart would burst with all the happiness in me. That was quite contrary to what I had expected to feel.
There are probably so many things in our closet and in our shelves that we don’t use anymore. Things shoved under our cots or pushed on the top shelf or on the attic. We keep them thinking it would be useful at some point. My friends and I have decided to collect all the things we don’t use anymore, thinking we would use them sometime and we have decided to give them away. We have planned to get a cardboard and collect everything in it and give it away to some orphanage or to some slum nearby or to someone who needs them. Probably you could try that as well. I can’t promise you what you get in return but yes, I can promise you the same kind of joy that I felt that day. And its worth anything.
I wish I could end this saying that I got a soft toy 10 times the size of the one I gave away but No. I waited for 2 days but that didn’t happen. But yes I know I’ve taken a step closer to reaching the place God wants me to reach in my walk with him. And that to me is worth all the soft toys in this world.
2 Corinthians 9:7 - God loves a cheerful giver.
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