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In these days we see many believers who are in poverty. They are all looking for help. We also see many brothers and sisters who trust in God for their living. Although they are never starved, they are often in danger of having an empty balance in their account. In addition, there are brothers who desire to live by faith. However, the absence of proper means discourages them from living this kind of life. Does the Word of God tell us of any way in which God's children can free themselves from want? The answer is "yes."
The reason believers are in want is that many times they have too much in excess and forget to give to others. As a result, no one gives to them. The greatest reason, though I dare not say the unique reason, for want among the believers is their refusal to give. The principle taught in the Bible is, "Give, and it will be given to you" (Luke 6:38). It is not only to receive, but to first give and then receive. When we are in want, we hope to receive from man or God. But God's command is to "give." We should not only give when we are rich or when we have a surplus, but at the very time when we need others to give to us. The more we are in want, the more we should give. The more we hope to receive help from others, the more we should render help to others. If we truly walk according to the promise of this verse, we will truly see God's promise fulfilled in us. During the past few years while I have been serving the Lord, He constantly reminded me of this verse. "Give" to others, and it will be given to me. This is my principle of financial planning. This is my theory of economics. When I had the most need and could not make ends meet, I remembered the teaching in this verse. I came before the Lord and asked what I should give to others. As soon as He gave the word, I obeyed. Soon I found Him meeting my needs through men's hands. Today, in retrospect, I can truly say that this verse can be fully trusted. The strange thing is that the time I offered the most was actually the time when I was most in want. Yet God always returned to me tenfold and a hundredfold what I put out. Every time I put out something, I would reckon at the end of the month what God gave to me. The marvelous thing was that He always gave and gave to my abundance. I can testify that whenever I practiced Luke 6:38, God never once wronged me.
Some wonder how I could have so much money to give to others. They wonder if the Lord has special grace for me. They do not realize that the times when I gave the most away were actually the times when I was the most in want. Some may think that I am very rich. Actually I am poorer than most people; but the Lord's power is great. Although some think this way, this has not hindered God from supplying my need. I have a friend who also experienced this. Once she spent her last dollar for the Lord. In a few days, she needed a hundred dollars to pay the wages of her workers. She sat quietly before the Lord and began to praise Him. She wrote a hymn in English (being an English woman). The message of the hymn is one verse in Psalm 23 which says that the Lord's cup of blessing runs over. She believed that everything, including silver and gold, would run over for her. But while she wrote this, she was actually penniless! When her friend in England saw the hymn, she wrote back and said, "Thank the Lord that He has been so rich to you!" It was true that she was not poor. When the time came to make her payments, the Lord prompted her former pastor in England to wire her a hundred dollars.
The secret to receiving is giving. The more you will not give, the more you will not have. Many times, we consider that our source is becoming dry and that it will dry up sooner if we give to others. But God says, "Give, and it will be given to you." You can exercise your faith. You can pray. But you will not receive if you do not give. God's eyes are on the little that you have left. You may say to God, "Father, all I have is this little." God would say, "Do you still have that much?" Since you have so little, you have a goal to save the little that you have to sustain your living. But God cannot give you anything because of the remainder that you still have. He says, "Give, and it will be given to you."
The little handful of meal and oil that the Zarephath woman had was only enough for her to make a cake. It was only enough to satisfy her hunger for an hour or two. But she needed to give. She needed to give the cake first to Elijah the prophet. Afterwards, God sustained her and her child for three and a half years. If God has not led you to do anything, nothing more can be said. But if He has led you to give, you have to give. However, do not be afraid of God's leading.
God's principle is for you to give first, and then it will be given to you. Our principle is to ask God to give first, then when we have a surplus we will give to others. Mr. Müller who supported the China Inland Mission was a person greatly used by the Lord. He gave his life to the Lord's work. He fully understood the principle of first giving and then being given to. He seldom stored up food at home. Once his wife told him that the food they had would only last until Sunday. They had no money, and it was not right for believers to borrow money. What should they do? He told his wife that there must be an overabundance of something in the house which was not distributed to others that had caused God to stop the supply. The couple began to search through the household items, the children's closets, and everything in the house to see if there were any excessive items. They found none. Everything seemed to be exactly what they needed. Suddenly they remembered that someone had sent them a big case of butter a few days before which they had not touched at all and which was too much for them. The couple then diligently cut the butter into a few hundred pieces and wrapped them up in white papers to be ready to give to others. The next day was Sunday. Mr Müller calmly sent all the butter to the church. He preached as usual, and after his message he asked the poor believers to stay behind and gave them each a packet of butter. The people wondered how their pastor had such a fortune to buy so much butter to give to others! They did not realize that their pastor was suffering from a famine in his own house! One of the poor believers had a sick wife at home. Every day there was only bread and water. Many times the sick wife said, "How good it would be if we could have a little butter on our bread." When the husband came home from the church and showed the butter to the wife, they were very grateful. The child of God then knelt in her bed and prayed in tears, "O Lord, please bless our pastor! He has supplied our needs. Now please supply his needs." God heard her prayer, and the next day someone suddenly sent the pastor some money. "Give, and it will be given to you."
There are many other passages in the Bible which speak of the principle of "give, and it will be given to you." One verse that many Christians treasure very much is Philippians 4:19. This verse teaches the same thing. Paul said, "And my God will fill your every need according to His riches, in glory, in Christ Jesus." This verse is truly a great promise. But we must never forget the condition laid out in this verse. From verses 15 to 18 Paul spoke of how the Philippians supplied his needs. Then in verse 19, he said that God would fill all their needs. Please notice that it was not your God who would supply all their needs, but my God who would supply all their needs. It was the God of Paul, the God of the one who received the supply, who would supply all their needs. Furthermore, it was to supply every need of "yours," the supplying ones. First you give and then God gives to you.
Elijah's offering on Mount Carmel is another good example (see 1 Kings 18). An elderly sister in the Lord once said, "If Elijah had not offered up the water, the water from heaven would not have come." At that time, a drought had been going on for three and a half years. There was no water in the whole nation. Even the king had to personally seek out grass for his mules. One can see the seriousness of the drought at that time. How precious was water! They needed water. But when Elijah offered the sacrifice, he poured out water again and again, twelve barrels full, onto the sacrifice. The Bible says that "the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water" (v. 35). Soon after, "the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain" (v. 45). If no water had been offered up, no water would have come down! About five years ago, I remember that I had such an experience for the first time. I had to go to a certain place to conduct meetings. The traveling expense was about twenty dollars. I only had twelve dollars with me. I prayed for the traveling expenses and the meetings for about a week. Originally I intended to leave on a Sunday evening. On Friday I mentioned to God the matter of the traveling expenses again. There were only two days until the date of my departure. It seemed that I was urging God, but He told me that a co-worker of mine was in need and that I should give him three dollars. This was quite difficult for me to do. How could I give to others when I did not have enough for myself ? But God's commandment never gives room for negotiation. In the end, I put three dollars into an envelope and sent it to my co-worker. Although three dollars was not much, when I did it, there were tears in my eyes. I thought that the Lord would surely take care of my traveling needs then. But to my surprise, on Sunday night no specially designated money came. However, I knew that I was walking in God's will and I left home in peace. The first part of my journey was a ride on a steamer for a night and a day. After that I needed to hire a boat and travel for another week. The cost of the steamer journey was a dollar, and I was able to pay for it. But the boat could not be hired for less than twenty dollars. I prayed that the Lord would provide me the necessary funds while traveling on the steamer. When the steamer approached the pier, I still did not have the money. At that time, the Holy Spirit taught me how to pray. Instead of praying for money, I prayed for a boat with a cheaper fare. I prayed this way, and when I reached the pier, I found a small boat that was able to take me to my destination for seventy cents. I was left with more than I needed. After the meetings, I wondered about my return fare. The Lord heard my prayer. When I came back home, I still had some dollars left over. As soon as I reached home, I went to see my co-worker. He was not at home, and I only managed to see his wife. She asked me why I had given her husband three dollars. I told her that I was merely following the Lord's leading and that it was not something I had initiated. Then she told me that when the money came to them, they had used up their last penny. The Lord used the three dollars to sustain them for a week before directing other channels to glorify His name. If I had failed the Lord that day, would the Lord also have failed His servant on that day? Actually, I did not have to use the three dollars anyway. When I returned home, I could not help but to praise the Lord in tears.
God is most wise. He knows what things will harm us. The matter of giving is not a business transaction where one can only work with capital. If we do not give, our God is seemingly frustrated from His work. God loves to see us trusting in Him single-heartedly. He does not want to see us holding anything back, trusting in our savings rather than in Him. God also loves to see us loving His children and His creation. He does not like to see us saving our wealth for ourselves. God wants to work with us to supply others. He can send manna from heaven directly, but it pleases Him to share a part of His glory with His children and work with them. Therefore, He wants us to give to others.
There is also a question of measure. "For with what measure you measure, it shall be measured to you in return" (Luke 6:38). The degree to which we obey this verse of promise will be the degree to which we receive blessings from the Lord. Blessed are those who are willing to give in full measure to others. They will see a God of full measure working for them in full measure. "He who sows sparingly shall also sparingly reap; and he who sows with blessings shall also with blessings reap" (2 Cor. 9:6). Many consider this word to be about the future; if one sows in this age, then he will reap in the next. While this is quite true, it is also true that if one sows in this age, he will also reap in this age. All of our offerings are not being wastefully thrown away; they are sowings that will have real reapings. If one sows, the harvest will come when the old supply is used up. If we give our money away, God will send what we need in our time of need. The harvest is always more abundant than the sowing. What is given to us will always be more than what we gave. Just as farming in this world promises a definite reaping, our giving promises no less sure results.
Only those who are rich in this world give to others out of their excess. But the Lord desires to see us giving like the rich ones without having the reserve of the rich. We rejoice when we can give more than the rich give. The more we give, the more the Lord will give to us. The more the Lord gives to us, the more we will be able to give. Wealth can never be lost; it merely circulates. It is a pity that the houses of many rich believers are full, but their hands are not because they have not given anything for the Lord. All of our dormant and idle money will condemn us at the judgment seat. But now we are not speaking to the rich; we are speaking to the poor brothers. We should give. We should ask the Lord to make us more generous in giving than the average rich person.
Giving is a condition. We have to give to the Lord before He will give to us. I believe all of us know the name Colgate. He is the most famous manufacturer in the world of soap, toothpaste, and perfume. When he was leaving England for America as a young man, he went to see his pastor and asked for a word before his departure. The pastor put his hand on Mr. Colgate's head and said, "Take God as your Head in everything, and He will bless you." When he arrived in America, he only had a little more than ten dollars. With that money he made some soap and sold it. Although he was poor, he offered a dollar to God for every ten dollars he made. When God increased his production, he offered two dollars for every ten dollars he made. In the end he offered five dollars for every ten dollars he made. Today his toothpaste is the most famous toothpaste in the world. He gave, and God gave back to him. Please prove the reality of God's promise in this verse.
