Give and it Shall be Given unto You (For Mothers)

We mothers often feel like we give and give, and it gets tiring. But God has promised that if we give, He will give to us. How does that all work? What does giving look like for us moms?

After our first baby, Emily, was born, and we went through several months of short nights, we realized that our struggle to catch up on lost sleep was not nearly as great as we had expected, as compared to previous occasions. Not that we didn’t get tired (sometimes we were exhausted!), but we managed okay at least. It was an interesting observation.

I was reminded once again of a principle that we have been observing since we read it early in our marriage. Give and it shall be given unto you. In the book Nevertheless I Live, (you can find the link to it here in my shop at #4) Steven B. Curington writes quite a bit about this principle in one of the chapters.

Simply put, when we give, God gives us what we need. We gave up our sleep to care for our baby, and God gave us the rest we needed.

Ways to Give

Luke 6:38 (KJV) says: “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 ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”

I want to share some ways in which I have seen the way God made this work out in our own lives.

Financially

Throughout the past years we have started to observe that the times we freely help financially, we always have enough. We are not rich, and that is not our goal. But it seems like the more we give, the more we have enough.

Whenever we give just enough to “get by” our money seems to be short everywhere. Whenever we give freely with all our hearts, we have more than enough. It is not that we get money sent to us. Many times it is simply that there are no extra, unexpected costs.

Material Goods

When we help others materially we have enough. Around here people often come asking if we have groceries to give or something. While we don’t always give them something, we have found that when we do, we lack nothing.

Some years ago, Marcos mowed off his big, left toe while push-mowing. For three weeks he could not work, and we saw how God provided so that we had extra to give to others. We were given groceries and some money, more than his normal wages. With that we could bless others and we never lacked either.

We have been given fruits and vegetables, shoes, and clothes, and we even found an umbrella beside the road once that I consider a gift from God, as we had none.

I have watched different people and seen how those who give and give do not loose out in life. With time they prosper and grow instead.

Time and Strength

Once we were going to have a Saturday at home to do some family projects around the house. As it turned out, the evening before someone called needing Marcos to help them for a good part of the day. After that he had to go get a new oxygen tank for a friend of ours who was bed-fast.

Our whole day was “wasted” helping others giving of our time and strength, and our own projects were left undone. I do believe I cried a little bit. But I tried to remember the principle of giving. We were in a very busy season and seemed to have no time for our own things.

Surely if we were giving to God, he would provide the time we needed. Sure enough, the next Saturday we got almost everything done that we had wanted to do.

When Not to Give

Living in Central America, we all know that you can’t just give to whoever comes by asking all the time. That is not for their good.

In general, we have found that the first time someone comes asking for a bit of food or money, we give freely. After that, we start weighing the situation. Usually they have promised to give it back, though we don’t necessarily expect it.

That is where we use another principle from the book aforementioned. Steven said that one translation for “Charity… believeth all things” could be “Love gives the benefit of a doubt.”

Usually if they don’t keep their promises they are too shy to ask again, or depending on the situation we can kindly remind them that they are not fulfilling their promise, and once they do, they can again ask when they need something.

We have had neighbors who sent their children begging for something about every day. After a while we started feeling like we needed to tell the children to tell their moms they had to come themselves. That took care of a lot of the problems, as the moms were too embarrassed to show up themselves, or were actually in need when they did.

There are some people who through poor choices are basically living on the street who have become friends with my husband, and from time to time they show up asking him for a cookie or two. In these situations we know that they won’t be using that to buy stuff they shouldn’t, and it is a small way to show them a touch of homemade love.

I love to wrap the cookies in a quick prayer as I take them out of the freezer, and I can’t help but think that God is working through those cookies!

When you start feeling real burnout from those who are always asking, it is time to ask God to show us where we are being selfish, or where we should hold back on the giving.

God Will Give Wisdom

My encouragement for you would be to step out in faith in God’s promises. God provides for us, and will give us the wisdom to know when to give, if we are seeking His will.

“Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.
Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name. But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.” 1 Chronicles 29:11-14 (King James Version)

Save it for later!

As moms, it can be so hard to know how to care for ourselves, and yet give to the needs of our family. Remember that you can’t pour from an empty cup, but also, when you feel you have nothing to give, God can give you strength. Ask Him for much strength.

Read more in this article on simple ways to serve God and others.

And remember to check out the book Nevertheless I Live (#4 under inspiration and books in my shop.)