you cannot outgive God

throughout my adult life a principle that seems to be demonstrated over and over is this:

you cannot outgive God.

here are a few examples of this, not in any particular order:

***in 2008 i made a casserole for us and gave half to some friends who were in financial need. not long after, as a surprise some friends of ours brought food to us because of fatigue i was experiencing!  you can't outgive God.

***in the 1980's, we worked in a small pca church but didn't make enuf money to make ends meet so humble husband worked as a crossing guard at our son's elementary school. one nite we ordered pizza. as it turns out, we were given the wrong pizza due to a "coincidental" different spelling of the same last name so it was free.   you can't outgive God.

***last week, i was thinking i'd used up my very last precious week of my sabbatical off work caring for my sick daughter but b/o a computer glitch, my start date was delayed a week.  you can't outgive God.

***recently, i passed on some clothes to a friend in need that i wasn't wearing anymore, still in good shape. why should they hang in my closet not in use? shortly afterwards, someone passed on some clothes to me that someone couldn't wear any more which spruced up my stash!  you can't outgive God.

***this story doesn't exactly fit but i must include it here - because it's still fits the theme. last year, someone anonymously mailed us a fifty dollar bill. i was so encouraged about His provision for me, i held on tightly to that envelope and bill and stuck it in my prayer journal. i savored it. i pleasured in the Lord's love for me.  and months later i placed that same bill in an envelope and mailed it anonymously to someone else, keeping that hope in circulation, the hope being much more important than anything i could have spent the money on. (if this person is reading this blog, let's keep it between us, ok?)  you can't outgive God!

God's message to me:  

z, you can't outgive ME 

not that i'm trying, how could i? it's just a clear msg He's wanted me to know. this may not be the lesson He's teaching you. you may not need to know this. His design is to teach each of us differently what each us needs to know. He is intimately acquainted with all our ways and His thoughts towards us are too numerous to count (psalm 139).