"... he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.. Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." (Excerpted from 2 Corinthians 9 and Luke 6)

Recently I've been sorting through my belongings, freeing myself from items I no longer need. God has convicted me about putting my trust and security in things I "may need some day," rather than in His promise to provide for me what I need, when I need it.

Jesus taught this concept in Matthew 6 when He taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread," and then reinforced it with instructions to "not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

He then went on to tell His disciples to not worry about their lives - about what they would eat or drink or wear, because their Heavenly Father knows their needs for these things and will provide for them. He concluded by saying, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

I have been further convicted to freely give the items I no longer need to those who do need them. The passages from 2 Corinthians and Luke 6 promise us that when we give, God will multiply what we give beyond the value of the gift, in both the recipient's and the giver's lives! What a wonderful return on our investment of giving to others!

These concepts of trusting the Lord for our needs and giving to others go beyond just physical items. We can also have confidence that He will provide for our spiritual and emotional needs, providing just what we need, when we need it. And, just as He does with our physical gifts, He will also bless our giving to others' spiritual and emotional needs, by multiplying those gifts in their lives and in our own.

As singles we may be tempted to feel alone as we worry what tomorrow may be like without a spouse to face it with us. But a spouse is not able to give us the security of insuring our physical, spiritual, and emotional needs will be fully provided for tomorrow like our Heavenly Father has, nor is a spouse able to multiply what we give to others like He does. A spouse may or may not be here tomorrow. But God will be.

"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)

"And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work." (2 Corinthians 9:8)

© 2010 Fern Horst

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