You CANNOT Out-Give God!

The Lord never ceases to amaze me!  Just when my awe starts to dwindle, He does something else that just leaves me speechless.  That's what happened this morning.

I was out walking, enjoying the beautiful fall colors and crisp air.  I don't know how you can stare at the beauty of creation without your heart turning to praise and thanksgiving and I have so much to be thankful for.  You see, about two weeks ago, a young man with a passion for taking the love of Jesus to the far reaches of South American jungles came to our church.  I was so struck by his love and dedication for these people that I felt that we just had to help support him financially.  We couldn't do what he is doing right now but we could partner with him.  The only "problem" was that there really wasn't "enough" money in the budget to support him as we'd like to without taking it away from other worthy causes.  Okay - I type that and right away I recognize that as a lie.  We live in a nice house with two vehicles (one is a clunker but nonetheless) and a freezer full of food.  We are wealthier than 80% of the world today.  We have more than "enough"!  Be that as it may, we gave a gift but didn't sign a pledge sheet because we didn't know how to do it on a regular basis.

God is SO unbelievably gracious and generous!  He will work with the tiniest little step of faith!  As I was walking, I was thanking the Lord for the raise that my husband got - right out of the blue (well, not to God) on Friday!  A raise!  In this economy when so many have had their wages rolled back, my husband gets a raise!  Talk about the favor of the Lord!  And an answer to prayer!  You see, I had asked the Lord to help me know how we could support this young man on his mission of love for Jesus.  The raise each month covers the amount that we had wanted to give and some extra.  How awesome is that!?

And this is not just a one time occurrence.  We could give you one for instance after another that we have personally experienced over the years!  Like last year, when our daughter desperately wanted to sponsor a child.  Once again, we of little faith, weren't sure how we could do it but we also weren't sure how we could not.  We decided to step out in faith.  The amount was $35 each month.  Our daughter would sacrifice $5 each month of her allowance and we would give $30.  Wouldn't you know it if my friend didn't share her yogurt recipe with me just after that.  Our family loves yogurt.  By making our own, we save - you guessed it - $30 per month on the grocery bill! 

I'm praying that this time, the awe and gratitude that wells up in my heart for the Lord will overflow in faith!  The next time God presents an opportunity that He wants us to partner with Him on, I want to have the faith to just say "yes" and to remember that our Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills and He always provides. 

Just as a side note - a reminder to myself - in the area of giving a portion of all we have back to the Lord, we are actually invited to test Him and just see what He will do when we are obedient to what He has asked.  Malachi 3:10-11 say, "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.  I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty."

And He does just that!  Praise God!