We all know the feeling. Someone wants to borrow something of ours, & this particular something is something we really like, something we are very protective of, something that we don’t want to share.
We start imagining all the things that can go wrong with our special something. It might get broken, it might get lost, what if it got stolen, what if they don’t treat it as special as it deserves? What if they forget to return it, or what if it takes them a long time to return it or if they return it with a bunch of scratches? What if I need it when they still have it?
So, we start to come up with all the reasons why we can’t let them borrow it, reasons that sound reasonable and not paranoid or selfish. It’s not good timing. It’s being repaired. It’s not on warranty anymore. It’s not really that good of a thing; you really don’t want to borrow it, or it is such a good thing, they should really buy one of their own. One of their family members, coworkers, neighbors or friends probably has one, so they should ask one of them first. Or we might just ghost them and hope that they forget, or we put them off long enough that the need will pass.
On the other hand, we could live like God owns everything, and if God has entrusted us with every single thing that is under our stewardship, we could ask God’s opinion on this particular request. Lord, you have given me this special thing. Thank you. Do you want me to loan it to this person who needs it? If you do, I will trust you to watch over it and bless this person with it. If something happens to it, I trust you to handle the consequences, and I will be content knowing that I obeyed you and the outcome was in your hands. You have always provided for me, and I trust you to provide in the future. You take care of the birds; you will take care of me. I will try to take care of the stuff you allow me to manage. Lord, help me to be a good stuff manager and to have a heart of generosity like You. Amen