Did you ever have to give something to someone else and it actually hurt? It was a real sacrifice. Did you hesitate? Did you complain afterwards? Or was it a joy? In our Christian life, there are times when we will be called upon to give to someone in need and it will be a great sacrifice but God uses that experience to help us grow and become stronger. Everyone gets a blessing—the giver and the receiver.
In the Old Testament, there was a widow who gave everything she had to Elijah knowing well that by doing so, she and her son would have nothing left and die. Now that’s giving until it hurts. Yet out of it, God blessed both of them.
There was a drought and famine in the land when Elijah came to a widow’s home at a place called Zarphath. He was hungry and needed something to drink and eat. The widow was out gathering sticks for making fire to bake a little bread from the last bit of oil and flour she had. And then she told Elijah that after this last meal, she and her son would die because there would be no more oil and flour. Elijah tells the woman to give him the bread to eat and the woman’s flour and oil vessels would never run dry. Did it hurt for this woman to give? You can believe it hurt.
But she obeyed the prophet of God and trusted that God would see her and her son through this and he certainly did. Her flour and oil vessels never ran empty or dry until the drought left the land. And the blessing did not stop there. Later on the widow’s son became sick and died and Elijah was then able to call upon the Lord to raise her son from the dead.
This entire story can be found in the Bible at 1 Kings 17:8-24. It shows that there are times when you will have to give or obey God even if it means you will have nothing left. Sometimes, we are asked to help a family in true need who can never return the favor. Jesus says in Luke 6:34-36 (NIV), “And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
A word of caution: This does not advocate carelessly giving all that you have to anyone who asks. There are many who deceive Christians for money because they know that a Christian will be hesitant to say no. What Jesus is saying is that when you determine that someone has a real need then you may be called upon to act. When you give in a manner that makes it a true sacrifice for you then God can bless that.
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