By Doug Inglish . . . I have always had trouble finding the proper fit in long sleeved shirts, owing to arms that are unusually long relative to my stature. But an odd benefit of this configuration has been the ability to check the height of ceilings. Standard residential height is eight feet, and while rarely called on to use this specific skill, all I ever had to do to check that measurement was reach up. If my fingertips barely grazed the ceiling, it was eight feet exactly.
Until fairly recently, anyway. A warning to those who are unaware–you start getting shorter sooner than you think. I can’t do it anymore; my fingertips fall short. Oh well.
As long as I am on the topic of my diminishing skill set, not only are the things I was good at fading, the things I was not good at are getting worse. (Life after 40 is full of these discoveries, and I passed that quite some time ago.) My hearing loss was confirmed while I was still in college, and the progression of this malady requires me to pick up my new and improved hearing aids next week.
Many of you can relate to what you are reading, and the rest of you inevitably will someday. But The Ageless One is not similarly afflicted: “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear” (Isaiah 59:1, NIV).
I may not be able to touch the ceiling anymore, but the God that we serve can reach us anywhere! I may need to ask you to repeat something, but God hears the whisper of every prayer! That’s cause for rejoicing, but it is also a reminder to believe He is able and ask Him to address our needs.
A story to illustrate this point:
The stewardship director of a Conference several years ago noticed, during an economic downturn, that there was a strong possibility the annual tithe would not match the previous year. His concern for the continued mission of the church led him to spend the last half of the year earnestly praying that they could at least hold steady on tithe and not suffer a loss. His prayer was answered when the Conference achieved a gain of 0.1 percent.
Instead of rejoicing, he felt shame. He realized that knowing God has excellent hearing is of limited value if you underestimate the length of His arms. What if instead of asking to avoid a shortfall, he had asked for a substantial gain? His prayers in subsequent years reflected a greater appreciation for God’s limitless reach.
We are currently running more than three percent behind in tithe for the year. The mission of the church will be affected if this loss continues. This is not a drill. This is a time for faithfulness, and a time for prayer.
As you remember the tithe situation in your prayers, remember the experience of the stewardship director in our story, a now retired gentleman whom I appropriately refer to as ‘Dad’. The arm of the Lord is not short, nor is His ear dull, so ask big.
—Doug Inglish is RMC planned giving and trust services director. Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash
