Have you ever said, “When I win the lottery…” It has become an idiom, even for people like me 
who do not play, for a financial windfall that solves every problem and guarantees a happy life. This is why millions of people continue to buy their tickets, despite the fact that the odds of winning the 2016 $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot were 1 in 292 million. According to a 2016 Gallup poll, about half of American adults report having played a state lottery, showing that, idiom or not, actually winning the lottery is still part the American dream.
But for many lottery winners, the reality is more like a nightmare. “Winning the lottery isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be,” says Evelyn Adams, who won the New Jersey lottery not just once but twice (1985, 1986) to the tune of $5.4 million. Today the money is all gone and Adams lives in a trailer. “I won the American dream but I lost it, too. It was a very hard fall. It’s called rock bottom,” says Adams. “There are a lot of people out there like me who don’t know how to deal with money,” laments Adams. “Hey, some people went broke in six months. At least I held on for a few years.”
Jesus said, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” Regardless of how much you have, money tests your character. Many people think they have to have MORE before they can be generous. The reality is that if you aren’t generous with your time, treasure, and talents now, you probably still won’t be if and when you get more.
This Sunday we finish covering the Joyful Journey acronym (DISCIPLE) with “EXERCISING generosity and expressing giftedness.” We’ll learn from a widow who was faithful with the very little that was given to her. Read over Mark 12:41-44 and marvel at this model of faithful giving and faith-filled living.
Because God first loved us,
Kurt