Lacked Opportunity

Philippians 4:10
But I rejoice in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.

I am blessed to be in full time Missionary service. My wife and I live by faith, we trust the Lord to meet every need, want and desire. We know what the Apostle is talking about! It is because of the faithful prayers and financial support of individuals and churches we are sustained.

I am amazed as the gifts arrive into our account. Our statement becomes a list to be prayed over. We rejoice in the fact that time and time again, we receive of the Lord the great care of fellow servants, who may not be the wealthiest people.

I see this verse in the viewpoint of receiving and if you are a supporter of missionaries you can look at this verse from the viewpoint of giving;

1. From the receiving viewpoint.
Because of the gift, I "rejoice in the lord, greatly." God has never failed me! He is always blessing me beyond what I expect. When you daily see the hand of the Lord in pouring out provisions to me it causes me to rejoice. Your care of this missionary causes me to greatly rejoice in the Lord.

Because of your consistent giving, I can look to the latest round of gifts; "the now at the last your care of me hath flourished." It is amazing that when a need arises the Lord takes care of it in high fashion. This month our windshield cracked, no big deal, it was a small line running bottom to almost the top, then that crack wanted company so now we have what looks like a "P" in it. The expense to replace the windshield is close to $200.00. God answered in a wonderful way one individual supporter donated about 10 times their normal amount.

Because of your giving I am forced to see that it is through the "careful" giving of these gifts I can plan and move forward in spreading the gospel. I take these gifts knowing that the giver is making an investing in the work they have in trusted us to do. I have a huge responsibility to make their profitable. I must be "careful" to use these gift wisely. God is pleased, when his children are careful in managing resources.

I believe that there are others that desire to become involved in a ministry that God is blessing, but for one reason or another have not had the "opportunity" Yesterday I received a phone call from a pastor that wanted us to come to the church he pastor's so they can support us. As far as I know this church is not on any givers list I have access to, in fact they heard about us through another church that supports us. The Lord used this to give this church the "opportunity" to give this missionary some care.

(Tomorrow we will look at this verse from the givers viewpoint)