A Generous Eye, A Faithful Provider
He who has a generous eye will be blessed; for he shares his food with the poor.
There's a quiet promise tucked into this proverb: generosity and blessing are linked together. It doesn't say the generous person will never run low or never face need themselves. It simply says that the one who looks on others with an open hand, willing to share even from what little they have, walks in a kind of blessing that stinginess can never produce.
This is exactly the spirit captured in Piper James' testimony from Cape Town Central Railway Station. On an ordinary Wednesday, walking his usual route into town, he gave away his loose change to people he met along the way — not out of abundance, but simply because he could, a couple of rand here, a word of encouragement there. By the time he reached the station to catch his train home, he had only R10 left, having emptied his pockets into other people's need.
What's striking is the order of events. He didn't give because he was certain he'd have enough left over. He gave first, trusting that provision would follow — and it did, in a way he describes as nothing short of miraculous. His ticket home was covered, and in the process he was positioned to become a blessing to another stranger, a young commuter named Brad. The generosity didn't end with Piper; it rippled outward.
This is the heart of Proverbs 22:9. A generous eye sees need before it calculates cost. It shares food, change, time, or kindness without first demanding a guarantee of return. And yet, as this story shows, the Father who sees what's done in simple faith has His own way of booking things in advance, long before we realize we'll need them.
If you want the fuller account of how this unfolded at the station — and what happened two days later — it's well worth reading Gateway News' full piece, "‘Booked in advance’ — a story of simple faith in a Father who always provides."
Read the source: Gateway News (South Africa) →