Give and It Shall Be Given You

[Continued from a previous post]

We had opened our separate free checking account and named it “Benevolence”. We ordered two debit cards with that name imprinted on them; one for each of us.

The goal was to carry these in our individual wallets, and be ready for the next time either one of us saw someone in need. With whatever money we had previously set aside, we would be able to be a blessing to that person without it impacting “our budget”. We would now be proactively setting aside money in advance and having it impact our budget on the front end.

Because we were personally living on a month-to-month cash basis ourselves, we definitely had discussions about whether or not it was responsible for us to add this new line item in our budget.

Looking back, I am sad that we even had to have these discussions, but I don’t judge our old selves, because we did not know then what we know now. It seemed the general Christian and financial culture was to take care of your own financial health before setting goals to meet the financial needs of others.

However, God began to show us the fallacy of this thinking almost immediately. 

One Sunday, as we were getting ready for church, my husband and I were discussing how we were going to pay our upcoming bills. We were wrestling with the fact that we had saved $75 in our Benevolence account, but we were short financially to be able to pay our upcoming rent payment.

I remember us asking, “Does God really expect us to honor what we committed to when we first opened that account?” (We had committed that once the money was in it, it was God’s and we could not touch it for ourselves.)

Was it legalistic of us to expect to help others when we were still not meeting even our own financial needs consistently?  

Later that morning, we were standing outside our small church after the service. It was a beautiful morning, and it was fun getting to meet and greet with some of the other families while our children were running around the front lawn playing together. We had not been in this community very long, and this was an answer to my heart’s desire to find a church home that was so family oriented. 

Out of nowhere, it seemed, my attention was interrupted as a man walked up to my husband and I and asked for help. He looked like he was on the verge of homelessness. To say we were surprised he came up directly to us is an understatement. 

It was almost like God was using this man to have us prove if we meant what we said about helping others. Or, perhaps he was giving us an opportunity to see how His Kingdom works.

We asked what he needed, acknowledging God was using us, and he told us he just needed a tank of gas to get him back to California. Here was our chance to put our Benevolence account to use.

So, we followed him to the nearest gas station.

I used my Benevolence debit card at the gas pump and proudly invited him to fill up his van. I had no idea what it would cost, but I was confident we had enough to meet his need.

To my surprise, the gas pump stopped once it reached $75 exactly! Apparently, his van drank gas. Thankful we were able to help, we said goodbye and headed back to our home. 

“Well, that settles that.” I said as we discussed that we now had no backdoor option. What had just happened had removed the question between us of whether or not we should use our Benevolence money to responsibly pay our rent. 

We had just gotten our kids inside, and were barely unwinding, when there was a knock at our front door. 

A woman, I had recently become friends with at our new church, came inside with a sense of urgency. She had left her children in her car running and could not stay.

She said, “My husband and I were praying, and the Lord told us to bring this over to you.” She handed me a folded amount of money, put it in the palm of my hand, and walked right out the door as fast as she came in. 

After she left, I opened my hand and counted $75 cash!

I was awe-struck.

Not only had God confirmed that He knew our struggle,

and He knew our obedience,

but He allowed us to honor our commitment. 

He had supernaturally transferred that money out of our Benevolence account and into our hands – so we could use it to pay our rent – and still honor our commitment to Him. ♥  

“Give, and it shall be given unto you;

good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over,

shall men give into your bosom.

For with the same measure that you use, it shall be measured back to you.”

Luke 6:38 (KJV + NKJV combined)

Rachelle Suzanne | www.SOCKS.team
Servant’s of Christ’s Kingdom Serving