The Unmerciful Servant

In Matthew 18, Jesus tells this story about a forgiving king who canceled the debts of a servant who owed him millions of dollars. But the servant then went to a fellow servant who owed him a few bucks. He choked the guy and then had him thrown into prison. When the king found out what his servant had done to the other man, he had him thrown in jail and tortured until he paid back all of his own debts.

I've always viewed this as a story about forgiveness (and it is!), but last week God showed me a new take on it. I was recently blessed financially. When this unexpected blessing came, I was so excited because I knew it was from God. I had lots of ideas about how I wanted to spend the money. The next day I was planning on buying a swimming pool. I had hunted down (via Internet) the perfect one, stalked it on the shelves of Walmart, and was almost ready to purchase. But I decided to have my brother come with me to get it, so he could help load it in the car and unload it when we got to my house. While I was waiting on my brother, I checked the mail. Bills, junk, and an organization asking for money. I've already given enough to them, I thought. But it seemed like a thorn stuck in my side. I have my own mission trip that I need to pay for, I reasoned. The thorn dug a little deeper. "What God?" I asked aloud. But I already knew the answer. "But I really want a pool!" I whined. So I decided to compromise. I would give to the organization later, but I would get the pool now. I picked up my brother, and we headed to Walmart. He started asking all these questions about the pool. "Where are you going to put it? Is it level? Can you store it?" Umm, I guess I hadn't really thought it through. "I'll figure it out later," I quickly answered. A sagging feeling hit me. The pool would not be there. Sure enough, we arrived at the store and every box was gone.

Most of my life I have been money-hungry. I remember counting my coins repeatedly as a child. Too often I put my trust in money and security rather than God. I always think back to the movie Ghost, when Whoopi Goldberg has to hand a check over to the nun. I can relate completely! God hands me money that wasn't even mine to begin with, then He asks me to do something, and I throw a mini-tantrum. One thing I'm learning (and relearning) is that you probably won't lose something when you have a tight grip on it, but you cannot receive anything more when you have a closed fist. God, help me to have open hands to receive what you have for me, but also to give what you want me to give.