Only a little Ice Cream

a little ice cream, a lot of love

My little son had a little cup of Ice Cream.  He had eaten his chicken sandwich and french fries, and didn’t have room in his little tummy for more.  We were driving through Costco for gas.  I thought of the guy who is always at the end of the Costco parking lot; the guy with the sign and the dog.  I figured he’d be there, and we could give him Ben’s frosty before it melted, then get gas.

I pulled the suburban up to the curb, and Ben jumped out to give the guy his frosty.  The guy smiled.  We circled around to enter back into the parking lot to go get gas.

When I pulled into the next entrance, Ben said, “stop, stop.”  I stopped and he jumped out.  He had seen a twenty dollar bill on the ground outside.  He ran to grab it, and hopped back into the car.  We locked eyes.

He knew what  I knew.  That twenty dollar bill was for the guy, the guy with the sign and the dog.

Unquestioningly, we drove back to where the guy was sharing the frosty with his dog, flicking spoonfuls onto the pavement for him to lick up.  Ben hopped out once again and handed the guy the twenty.  He smiled.

We had a little to give, and a little goodness in our hearts to make an effort.  When God saw that we were willing to cooperate, and be a blessing, He used us to accomplish what he wanted; even when I hadn’t dug into my wallet.  If God wanted that guy to have a twenty dollar bill, He could have given it to him in any way.  But God, in His grace, allows us to participate with Him in His work in the world.  He works in and with us to accomplish his work on earth.

When we are looking for opportunities to love and give and work, we will see them.  When we are not looking, we may miss many occasions to work with God, help others, and find true joy.

I was happy to see Ben’s heart.  He was willing to give his frosty.  That was easy.  Jump out of the car and hand ice cream to a stranger.

Matthew 25:23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’

The surprising part, was seeing Ben’s response to finding an unexpected twenty dollar bill.  His heart was ready to obey God.  He had stepped into God’s will in giving from a heart of love, and God had opened wide the path for Ben to do exceedingly more in his good works, if he was willing.  Twenty dollars could buy a lot of hours at Airworx.  It could be a good start to saving for a new skateboard.  Or it could be enough for a toy, a movie, and some candy!  But Ben got a glimpse of God’s heart.  He saw the chance to be used by Him to bless this guy with the sign, and he jumped on it!

My prayer is that we can all look for opportunities to be a blessing.  We can ask God to put people in our path that He wants us to spur on in love.  We should look at the little He has given us, and know that He will use us more powerfully to advance his kingdom with big things when we are faithful with the small things.

Luke 12:48 When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required (NLT).

If we dare, we can pray the prayer, that God will give us much.  In faithfulness, being given much, we will give much.  And if God knows he can trust us with much, He will give us more.  He wants to give us much when He knows that we are likeminded.  When we think like Him, act like Him, love like Him, He knows He can give us all things and we will humbly be willing to give it all back to Him so that He will receive the praise.  It is a privilege  to be part of the process.  He could choose to bypass us in accomplishing his purposes on earth, but he doesn’t.  He enjoys our cooperation.  He gets joy when he sees that our hearts are in alignment with his heart.  This is the answer to making it our goal to please Him.  We can please Him in anything and everything, even something as small as an cup of blended ice cream.

Do not withhold good from those who need it, when you have the ability to help.
Proverbs 3:27 NET Bible