Encouragement

This Is Not the Time For Hoarding But A Time For Giving And Investing

by Kevin Frasure
04/10/20
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The world we live in has changed over the last few weeks.  People are filled with anxiety and fear.  What does the future hold?  Will I be infected with Covid 19? How will I feed my family and myself?  How will I pay my bills?

The current situation looks scary, but it is a time for giving and investing and not a time for hoarding. 

The following message came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of the reign of Zedekiah,^[a] king of Judah. This was also the eighteenth year of the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar.^[b] 2 Jerusalem was then under siege from the Babylonian army, and Jeremiah was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace. ³ King Zedekiah had put him there, asking why he kept giving this prophecy: “This is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will take it. ⁴ King Zedekiah will be captured by the Babylonians^[c] and taken to meet the king of Babylon face to face. ⁵ He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and I will deal with him there,’ says the Lord. ‘If you fight against the Babylonians, you will never succeed.’”

⁶ At that time the Lord sent me a message. He said, ⁷ “Your cousin Hanamel son of Shallum will come and say to you, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth. By law you have the right to buy it before it is offered to anyone else.’”

⁸ Then, just as the Lord had said he would, my cousin Hanamel came and visited me in the prison. He said, “Please buy my field at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. By law you have the right to buy it before it is offered to anyone else, so buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that the message I had heard was from the Lord.

⁹ So I bought the field at Anathoth, paying Hanamel seventeen pieces^[d] of silver for it. ¹⁰ I signed and sealed the deed of purchase before witnesses, weighed out the silver, and paid him. ¹¹ Then I took the sealed deed and an unsealed copy of the deed, which contained the terms and conditions of the purchase, ¹² and I handed them to Baruch son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah. I did all this in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, the witnesses who had signed the deed, and all the men of Judah who were there in the courtyard of the guardhouse.

Jeremiah 32:1-12 New Living Translation

Jeremiah was in prison.  He was surrounded by his enemies. Jeremiah’s cousin came to him to sell him property in Anathoth.  Anthatoth was under Chaldean control.  God told Jeremiah to buy the property.  He told Jeremiah to invest in the land and Jeremiah obeyed. 

To say it in modern terms it is like buying vacation property in Afghanistan or building a resort in the middle of a swamp.  But God told Jeremiah to invest in the land. 

I have noticed many people freaking out during this quarantine.  There is a good reason to be scared and concerned.  I have noticed that other people are handling it better. 

I have noticed that monks living in monasteries are not freaking out and seem to be handling it well, even when they have become infected.  Why?  They have learned to live a simple life and have invested in going within.  They have invested in prayer and spending time with God. 

I have noticed people becoming kinder to one another and more loving.  I have noticed some people doing just the opposite.  What kind of person do you want to be?

I think this is time for investment.  Only you and the Holy Spirit knows what that investment is.  It may be an investment with time with your family or time in prayer.  It could be an investment in a passion project or doing artwork.  What ever you feel like the Holy Spirit is leading you. 

Normal Life vs Harvest Life

I believe that God is doing major things with people’s hearts during this quarantine.   I believe we are on harvest time instead of normal time.  What is harvest time?  I discovered harvest time when I lived with and traveled with Consuming Fire Ministries. 

Normal life works like this; You have goals in life, and you plan to meet those goals during the week, month, or year.  The goal could be to save some money to buy a car or to finish school.  It may be a business goal or to lose some weight.  You make these goals and you check on the goals every week or month.  It is a slow and steady growth or decline throughout the year. 

When you reach December, you are either sad and filled with regret because you didn’t meet your goals, or you are happy because you fulfilled some or all your goals during the year.  You then start the process again the next year.  That is how many people live their lives. 

But when you are living under harvest time and harvest growth things work a little different.  Here is how harvest time worked for me when I traveled with Consuming Fire Ministries. 

When I first began traveling with the ministry, I was frustrated because things were not happening like I thought it should be happening.  I am normally a very introverted person.  Chad Taylor the minister with Consuming Fire ministries always had us do extroverted type of activities.  We were always around people.  We were either spending time at the park with people or with people in their homes.  We were not preaching or sharing Jesus.  We just seemed to be hanging out and eating food or playing video games.  I was really focused on evangelism during that time and my passion for souls was the reason why I connected with Chad and the ministry.  It seemed like we were not really leading anyone to the lord and that we were just hanging out with people. 

We would even hang out at bars.  We would sometimes talk about Jesus and it made people uncomfortable, but they would not throw us out because we were nice and were spending money.  There were other times when we would just hang out and not really talk about Jesus.  We later began to bring little gifts to the bars.  We would bring  little metal bibles to the bars.  People did not take them.  We kept bringing them and every once in awhile someone would take a bible.  A few more people became curious about the metal bibles and they would hang out with us.  They wanted to learn more about us and the bibles. 

And then something happened….

We bumped into Harvest Time!

People not only began to want the bibles, but they began to fight over them!  People we never met began to have dreams about us and in the dream, they saw us praying for them, so they would ask us for prayer.  People would form prayer lines in the bar and pray over each other.  People would spontaneously begin to preach in the bars.  The Holy Spirit would sometimes rest on the bars so thick that you could feel His presence we you walked into the bar.  People would be touched by the presence of God without anyone talking to them, praying for them or laying hands on them the presence of God would touch some people and they would be healed.  People would be led to the Lord in the bathrooms. 

“For as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of the Lord”

Habakkuk 2:14

 That is how Harvest Time works.  We a farmer plants a seed it seems like nothing is going on.  He then sees a little green and little activity and then one day he has more crops than he knows what to do with.  Harvest Time works the same way.  The field may seem like just a field of dirt but there is a lot of stuff going on under the surface. 

The Covid-19 has worked in a similar way.  It was just a few people then it began to double or triple in its death toll.  It just seemed to come out of nowhere causing a harvest of death, but I believe we are going to the see a similar thing with God’s presence causing a harvest of life.  I know that may seem hard to believe during this time of skepticism but if it could happen in the past like it did with the Welsh Revival and the Azusa street revival, it can happen again.  It can happen and it can happen greater.  Many people may believe they have outgrew the bible and are too educated for the raw power and presence of God like flowed in the past but that is the atmosphere God flows the best in so no one can take credit or boast. 

There are those of you who are not in a time of rest during this time.  You are known as an essential worker and some of you may even lose your life or the life of loved ones during this pandemic.  And to you this is not a time for rest but a time of calling.  It is your Esther moment and God will bless you more than you can imagine.  If not in this life, then in the next. 

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat, having fallen into the ground, should die, it abides alone; but if it should die, it bears much fruit.”

 John 12:24 Berean Literal Bible

I hope this article has given you some hope.  Yes, this virus has changed the world we live in overnight but so can God.  Whether you are at home or on the front lines please continue to pray and be kind.  If a virus can change the world in a day, so can the Glory of God. 

You’re somewhere in the future and look much better than you do right now.  Kim Clement

Article by Kevin Frasure

Kevin Frasure is a copywriter for ministries and nonprofits.  He writes fundraising letters, emails, blogs and articles.  He can be reached @ [email protected] Writing Samples available upon request.