There have been many times that I walk out of church with a one-liner that just sticks to my head until it is digested by my being. One of these adages that I remember would be, "You can never outgive God." This means that the bigger the blessings you give people, the bigger the blessings go to you, for you to bless other people, and the cycle goes on and on and on... Take this with another verse in the bible, "'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'" (Matthew 25:40) and you have yourself a reason to just keep giving, giving, giving, to anyone, with as much as you can, with the purpose of serving God, in addition to prayer and praise...
It sounded like a good idea at first... but it was an incomplete one. Recent events and revelations in my life have led me to the following verse:
"So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver"
- 2 Corinthians 9:7
This means that if you find yourself in the spot to give, give as much as your heart is willing to give. You shouldn't regret your decision to give. You shouldn't feel bad about how much you're giving. You shouldn't give with the purpose of getting something back sooner or later. You should give because you want to give. I'm not saying that you can escape giving by saying you don't feel like it. Eventually, you will find yourself placed by God in a spot which could very well define the future of another individual, depending on your decision to give or to keep.
And when that time comes, you would still have the decision to refuse... But think of the possibility of the same situation happening to you. It may not be a total twist of fate but you may just find yourself in a proportional circumstance. God knows all and sees all, and when the time comes that it is you who is in need, you will see just how gracious God can be if you run to Him.
A few minutes back an incident which just may have been caused by my forgetfulness reminded me of this. Bills needed to be paid while we were away, and apparently one that I thought I had covered before we left came back to haunt us in a time that I did not have any money, in the bank or in my wallet. I sought God, and I got the money I needed from my mother. The moral of this story may be just what I need to jumpstart this area of my life which probably has not seen much exposure. If I am to be responsible for bigger things in the future, I need to be responsible for the smaller things now. This was a lesson which cost my mom a good amount of money for me to learn. God bless her and prosper her. God bless and prosper a very good friend of mine who calmed me down while this happened. And all the praise and glory goes to God for once again He has demonstrated how He never lets us go, how He never leaves us nor forsakes us. I know there are more dramatic stories depicting His grace compared to this one - I didn't mean to end the blog this way, actually - but I guess this is one time it really struck me.
Perhaps you're in a similar situation as you read this. Before you react with what human emotions you have at this particular time, I challenge you, I urge you to seek God's kingdom in the face of your trial. The victory will come, not out of your might, nor by your power, but by His Spirit (Zechariah 4:6).
Believe it. God bless you.