IT'S JUST A JAR OF PEACHES

        “Reminisce” magazine in its Oct/Nov, 2008 issue had a story about a woman who was abandoned by her husband during the Great Depression. Scraping by, she was forced to take in washing to provide for her two daughters in her Charleston, West Virginia, home. Her faith in Jesus kept her cheery, even when her cupboards were bare. 

        The church she attended was in a poor section of the city, but it had a ministry to the needy.  One year, just before Thanksgiving, the pastor asked for food donations to be left on porches which would be picked up and distributed in baskets to those in need. When the mother heard of this, she went to her nearly empty cupboards, took a jar of home-canned peaches and set it out on her front porch. 

        Some neighbors criticized her, saying she was too poor to give food away. One cynical neighbor even told her the pastor was probably a crook and would sell the food or keep it himself. But the woman held her ground, and the peaches stayed on the porch. “For heaven’s sake, it’s just a jar of peaches,” she said. “It is up to the pastor what he does with them.”

        Her jar was picked up before Thanksgiving, and on Thanksgiving Eve there came a knock at her door. When the mother opened it, there sat a full box of food.  She’d always told her girls they were not poor and should always give thanks to the Lord for His blessings, no matter how many or few they were. But just then she needed food her little family. 

        Opening the food basket she found a freshly dressed chicken, potatoes, beans, rice, flour, canned pumpkin, and - you guessed it - the very jar of peaches she herself had given. Seeing it all, she sat down on the floor and cried. She and her girls would have a fine Thanksgiving meal and food for many days.  “I’ve found you can’t outgive God,” she later told friends. 

        Christians have found this to be true. If we’re in need, God always provides. Maybe not in the way we expect, but when we trust Him He always makes sure we have enough. Jesus promised, “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, it will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:38)

        So often Jesus urged His followers, “Have faith!” Whether parents worried about a sick child, disciples needing food to feed a crowd, or someone crippled by disease, Jesus told them to have faith that God would provide. God’s love for us is seen best in His only Son Jesus.

Thank You, dear God, for helping us when we are in need!

Rev. Bob Tasler, www.bobtasler.com