Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man: A Daily Devotional

by Walter A. Henrichsen

SEPTEMBER 7 Day 251 Faith vs. Timidity “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what evil may happen on earth.” Ecclesiastes 11:1-2 The world’s perspective on life is the antithesis of God’s. Turn the world upside down and you begin to understand God. “That which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination with God.”1 Thus it requires faith to walk with God. Solomon says that an uncertain future means you should give rather than accumulate. Note that he gives a precept (cast) and a promise (find). The promise gives life to the precept. You often read of people who are impoverished by self-indulgence, but rarely by liberality. The Bible says a great deal about hoarding and stinginess; nothing suggests that you can be too generous. Cast not just the bread of money, but also your time and energy, all the resources God has given you to steward. Lavish spending is only possible with unlimited resources. Again and again God calls upon us to demonstrate that we believe all we have is a gift of His grace. If you believe this, then giving becomes easy, for God’s resources are unlimited. Most are so afraid of poverty that they refuse to risk anything beyond that which they feel they can afford. When the Savior calls upon His children to risk all, they obey. Casting upon the waters is more than giving; it is investing in whatever God wants, including the marketplace. The motive for such inve...