But
what has become of me…well I can make a wicked Poke Bowel (a Hawaiian dish of
raw, fish normally Ahi tuna), I can wash dishes in record time, make small talk
with anyone, and can juggle 2 jobs, Crossfit, and a long distance relationship
like a pro. Am I tired? Yes…do I want this to be the rest of my life no!! I’m
hoping to cut it down to one job, keep Crossfit, and finally have a normal
close distance relationship (28 more days till I be in AZ).
This
past month I got the chance to learn something that will help me later on down
the road. I feel I have been able to learn the true meaning of sacrifice. It’s something I taught many
investigators. However, I was only able to share other peoples’ experiences.
Now I finally have one of my own (that I’ll use when I go out with the
missionaries).
As I
was leaving the mission, I remember being told (by who I have no clue) the importance
of being generous with your fast offering. Meaning, instead of thinking “So
lets say I ate breakfast at McDonalds and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich
for lunch…so I will give X amount for fast offerings.” But in turn think “I
went to IHOP for breakfast and I got the decked out strawberries and cream
pancakes with eggs and bacon and an extra side of hash browns because you know
how I love me some potatoes and then for lunch you hit up Red Robin’s because
their burgers are soooooo good and their bottomless fries are heaven…so I will
give X amount for fast offerings.” See how your end up giving (maybe even
sacrificing) more for your fast offering? Even President Kimball agrees with
that stating, “ I think we should be very generous and give, instead of the
amount we saved by our two meals of fasting, perhaps much, much more—then times
more where we are in a position to do it.”
However,
why do we really pay fast offerings? I mean, besides the obvious reason of
helping those in need, why are we asked to give that money we would’ve used for
two meals?? I couldn’t have put it better than Isaiah when he speaks about it
in chapter 58, verses 8-11
8 ¶Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and
thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall
go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward.
9 Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer;
thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away
from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and
speaking vanity;
10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry,
and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity,
and thy darkness be as the noonday:
11 And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and
satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou
shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose
waters fail not.
I’ll
leave it to you to count the blessings promised to those who obey the law fast
in those verses. I really want to focus on one promised blessing. “Then shalt
thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, here I
am.” Wow! I love that promise! In regards to this scripture, President Harold
B. Lee said, “ Do we ever want to be in a condition where we can call and he
WON’T answer? We will cry out in distress and he WON’T be with us? I think it
is time we are thinking about these fundamentals because these are the days
that lie ahead, when we are going to need more and more blessings of the Lord.”
Um, yeah…who wouldn’t want to have the confidence that they could receive the
Lord’s help when it’s most needed? I don’t know about you, but I sure would!
Then
again, while the blessings to come are a bit motivating, we must always
remember, what we do for our neighbor, we do unto the Lord. When we have others
in mind as we pay our fast offering we end up helping ourselves. All in all,
fast offering isn’t so much for others, but for us. To prepare us “for the day
when the higher law, that of consecration, will again become the financial law
of the Church through which we will properly take care of the poor. Until that
time, it is our responsibility and blessings—as a matter of fact, our covenant—to
give generously from our surplus to bless the poor.” (Fast Offerings:
Fulfilling our Responsibility to others, Bishop Victor L. Brown)
So
what was it that I learned for myself this month about fast offerings? Well, as
I was getting ready to seal up the envelope that contained my tithing and fast
offering, I got this feeling like it wasn’t enough. In my head I thought, “well,
yeah that should be good enough” So I got up and went to do other things. As I
was going along my business, that same feeling came back, but stronger. I
walked back into the kitchen opened up the envelope, opened my wallet and just
sat there thinking ‘how much is enough Lord?!’. I then proceeded to take the
rest of the money (all from tips) and one by one put them into the envelope.
Once I had put all my left over ones in that little grey envelope the feeling
had left me. I cried a little…still not really sure why, maybe out of my own
selfishness or just realizing how faithless I had been. Either way I was taught
a valuable lesson on how I should never be greedy with my fast offerings. Sacrifices
are not easy at all, but they bring many blessings down the road. Let’s not
forget that this offering is a “freewill” offering…meaning its up to us to
decide what is generous or not. Yet let us remember what the Prophets have said
about this matter. But in the end it is you and the Lord, and with the guidance
of the Spirit you will be able to determine what the right amount is for your
fast offering.
