What to Do with the Overflow
Deuteronomy 8:18
And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
The word “power” means capacity, ability. The ability to obtain wealth. Prospered to bless. Wealth given to establish and verify the covenant. What can be done with the surplus of His blessing? God desires that we use our abundance to bless others. God wants us to have wealth, not to accumulate things for ourselves only, but to be a vessel in His hands to touch others’ lives. I remember in our first church, we were only making $75 a week. Stephen was going to University on his GI Bill. Needless to say, things were tight. Christmas was upon us with two little kids, and no money to do Christmas for them. We were in a K Mart in our town, trying desperately to put a little Christmas together for them, just a few small things, when a man whom we didn’t know, stepped up to Stephen and asked if was the pastor of our church. A conversation ensued and he said, “I knew it was the Lord when I saw you from across the store. I was going to stop at your church and give you this.” He proceeded to pull an already written check out of his coat and handed it to Stephen. It was enough for us to make a good Christmas for our kids. That’s not all. As Stephen was walking out of the store, he looked down and there was a $100 bill laying on the ground in the wet slushy snow. He picked it up and looked around to see if anyone was near that may have dropped it. There was no one, so he went back in the store to the service desk and tried to explain where he found it. They would not take it and told him to keep it. Merry Christmas! What a faithful God we serve. Because of these experiences, I began to carry a $20 bill in a hidden spot in my wallet and would ask the Lord to show me whomever and whenever He would want me to bless someone. There have been times when the Lord would have me give it to a complete stranger, maybe with little ones. Or an elderly soul trying to make ends meet for medicine and food. What a joy it is to be able to give. Over the years I have been able to increase my stow-away funds to $100. When I’m out and about, I listen with anticipation to the voice of the Holy Spirit as He may speak that I’m to bless someone today who comes across my path. My giving has become a great place of joy for me, not a place of struggle and stinginess, but of blessing and gladness. You see, I have more than enough, and now my abundance is not given to sit in a bank or a hidden spot in my house, but to bless others as led by the Holy Spirit. I know as we give, we bless the heart of our heavenly Father who loves a cheerful giver, and He is no man’s debtor and will always bless you with more to be able to give more.
What about you? Are you a giver or a tightwad? Ask the Lord to help you become intuitive to His heart and His ways and that you can become a blessing to others so that He then can increase you more and more. Blessings on your day.
