Balance Between Giving and Saving

Philippians 4:19 

Our wood stockpile

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

We recently discussed in our Wednesday night study about the balance between giving and providing for family (savings, health insurance, etc.).

I tend to have a different attitude on this subject than most people. I feel that if it is in our power to help/give now, that we should and God will provide for us later. I think the different mindset comes from seeing a difference between a need and a want. I might want a large savings or a stock pile for the "what if", but it isn't a need.

Paul tells us in this verse that God will reward giving by supplying "all you need." While I know that the world will say it is wise to prepare for the future (and I do agree to some extent), I believe it is wise to help where God is calling as well and I tend to live by 2 Corinthians 5:7--"(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)"

I think that since I have seen God provide in many ways, I tend to have the faith that He will continue to do so. I'll share a few examples.

I was given some canning jars that I figured we would need to put up items for the winter. Well, our apple trees didn't produce very well that year and we didn't get much venison so I ended up not using all our jars. I had a friend who had a banner year in her garden and she was out of jars. I told her she could have a few dozen of mine. She didn't want to take them because she knew I would need them the next year. I finally talked her into taking them by telling her that if I needed them, God would provide more later. Well, not even 24 hours after she picked them up, I received a call from an older relative who was getting out of canning and asked if I could use more jars! I ended up with 6 more boxes full of jars! I have never run out of jars (I've used all the empties we had, but never needed more than those).

Another time, I had a friend whose husband didn't get any venison that year. She had two small children and was trying to feed them on a tight budget. We had a good year that year as far as venison goes so I gave her some of our venison. That spring, just as we were running out of our venison, God provided more meat through another friend who was cleaning out a freezer. I didn't need to store that venison to provide for my family--God did it for me!

We have been blessed with the opportunity to store a lot of firewood to heat the house in the winter. Unfortunately, a lot of it is pine because with an outdoor wood stove, we are able to burn pine, but we do also get hardwood often as well. We have had a few times where we've had friends who needed wood to heat their homes in the winter or they would have gone cold. We have been able to provide them with what they needed to get them through to a payday or until they had a chance to cut more themselves. God has always provided more wood for us whenever we have shared.