The Anonymous Giver - “Don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”

When you have walked and still walking through the valleys of experience in life, you meet wonderful people that are part of your life forever and helped shape your foundational values to shine more light in the dark. This can be a life-experience walk in your past and still be a connection of dots to your future life. Sometimes what has been done to you in the past is a great ingredient for you to keep yourself humble like fruits bearing its magnificent taste to other people who have tasted it before, still wanting to taste it again and wanting to share it around. Things that happen are never a coincidence but for a reason when you look it back with discernment.

As a wife now, I’m connecting the dots of my life as it needed since when I was single person to MARRIAGE LIFE. The “still small voice” reiterates me in January 2012 about reconnecting the dots of my life gearing towards the choices we have made as a couple that we’re both peaceful about it. We’ll be 7 years of marriage without kids yet, but I choose to submit to my husband not to land a job even if it’s tempting when the Lord God took away the job opportunities I have applied rather to stay home and help my husband what we are passionate about even if it may take us years to do it on the “less road travel” by faith in action. An author once said “ANONYMOUS sufferings are actually the best kind --- in fact our Lord Jesus (Yeshua) tells us otherwise, others might recognize us and compliment us and that, will be the reward but what we do in secret God will reward us - Matthew 6:16-18)”. What we believe becomes stronger like a pillar especially when the sign is not everyone is on your side but they are in fact a great springboard for us (a blessing in disguise) because we’re not doing it to glorify ourselves but to glorify Yahweh God who is Faithful and only Truth! We believe that everyone on earth is here for a reason especially if you find your purpose and passion in life and just ACT ON OUR DREAMS and VISION of burden given to us. My urgent job right here, right now is to complete my husband as Father God orchestrated it for us as a couple uniquely or not the same with other couples. Pastor Jack Hyles put it this way. “Always in the Bible the first command is to the follower. In Ephesians 5:22, for example, it says, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands." Then in verse 25 it says, "Husbands, love your wives." Who's supposed to start it? The wife!  Woman comes to an incomplete man, completes him (Brian), and then receives the benefits of his completeness. Woman comes to an incomplete man and completes him (Brian); that's her job--to be the aggressor, to lead him (Brian) to become a complete man so he can lead her, but he (Brian) needs woman to start him! Then after woman completes man (Brian), she receives the benefits of his completeness!”

Somehow this year 2012 starts, I have personal prompting reminding me back before I went to Bible College after I finished my University degree in Education and had some volunteer jobs which were related to the business industry. For those who knew me and even don’t know me, may ask “how can I be in a job not even related at all to my profession that time” ---I learned nuggets from past experiences and it’s relating now that I’m married to what we’re heading on as a couple. My point is before I entered to Bible College for a short term training that prompted on me; an “ANONYMOUS financial supporter” have already paid my tuition fee for the whole training course in full-term , all I needed to pray about was my allowance then, which the Lord have met in different unexpected ways I can testify & grateful with.

“When someone paid my Bible College tuition fee in full terms ANONYMOUSLY not coincidence because the Lord has its purpose later in my marriage life as one of our foundational values for us to keep growing in our FAITH as a couple when we give; and keep ourselves from pride to what He purposed us to do.” Not only this experience occurred in Bible college but also where I was nurtured young when my parents were pastoring a Church in the Philippines, there were ANONYMOUS givers who just left a big sack of 100 kilograms of Rice in front of the church pulpit when we really had nothing to eat the next day (I’m not exaggerating it) and other things I can testify. That in itself is one of the foundational values I had grown up with to be a blessing to someone anonymously. When we faithfully serve the one who has called us by heart; His provision is in the CALL. It’s all our choice & willingness with patience as one of the fruits of the Spirit of God even if it hurts our guts out to be misjudged; that fruit will bear more fruitage abundantly and exceedingly in due time.

The fact is it’s from the Lord’s Word Himself who says, “When we give, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing like the Pharisees and Sadducees in Jesus’ (Yeshua)’s time who were very religious and proud even when they prayed/fasted in public!”

Matthew 6:2-4 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by men. I tell you the truth; they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

The secret thing is, if we are faithful to do things in small ways faithfully the ONE WHO IS FAITHFUL can trusts us to do things in a big scale in due time. The pity side of it is when someone claiming to be Christians who wants to announce what she/he done or give this or that to other people or to charity they have a long way to understand the ways of God… because if a Christian does it so, how much more the people in the secular world can easily proudly televised it for themselves! I live in Australia and every year, they would occasionally announce a long list in one of the TV programs who gives their charities with their FULL NAME! You know what, even at my husband’s workplace who are not claiming to be Christians, they don’t even want their names to be scrolled on the TV screen how long they have been working there for long years’ service, which was just happened this 2012. My hubby said, because the company is a business, it’s for their marketing strategies and they thought they are doing favour for their employees (although his co-workers can’t see it that way as they questioned why, he said to me). Art Carden, an Assistant Professor of Economics and Business stated “There are, of course, good reasons to be totally open about your giving–when you are trying to honour someone, for example, by naming a building or lecture series or something after them, or when you explicitly want to change people’s incentives.  If you just want to give people stuff, though, then your charity is most effective when it is given in secret.”

When Christians are constantly mentioning what they give or done to others the charitable value losses its true Biblical sense as we’ve heard or read in a sermon but not doers of the Word. Watch out their motives later in life I’m not a prophesying this but there’s something why they say so with pride and to shoot other’s ego immaturely as a babe Christian (Hebrews 6:1-2 speaks of spiritual immaturity, which is another topic). If any of you out there struggling to give/help or intended to do it when you have got something to give, stuffs or even your personal time, don’t be discouraged because when your turn comes, the Lord God has already opened that door for you when you have done it in your heart in secret for a heavenly reward not from men.

I thanked God for His PEACE that passes all understanding as a living testimony. The calamities, challenges, and negating words outside our marriage because of the choice we’ve made thriving us deeply and robustly in the Divine Creator’s hands by faith in action. The pruning is great season to bear so that we shall bear much fruits effectively when that perfect season arrives because He’s our Emmanuel “God is with us” at all times.  When we learned to separate ourselves from the crowd for a season in the wilderness-walk you learn more deep things from our Lord Yahweh God like Jeremiah have himself “set-apart” to be a prophet although not everyone called to be a prophet but we are all unique and our uniqueness is needed in the world when we learn our Heavenly Father’s secret not only in giving!” Jesus said, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross DAILY, and FOLLOW ME," (Luke 9:23).