Floodgates of Heaven

By Ruth McDonald

Have you ever known someone you just couldn’t “out-nice?” No matter how many gifts or acts of kindness you show, they just seem to keep outdoing you. That is an apt picture of the goodness of God. We truly can’t outgive God.

As parents of adult children, it’s been interesting to watch them adjust to the realities of life on their own. Our daughter Amy recently decided she needed to step up her obedience and begin giving a tenth of her income to the Lord’s work. On a teacher’s salary, though, she had a great concern her nine-tenths just wouldn’t stretch far enough. She was already trying her best to make ends meet via several “side hustles” and creative pursuits. She really needed some things, including a couch, but it could wait. It was hard to give that first offering of $120 to her church, but she gave it anyway—not exactly joyfully, but at least obediently.

The next day, a person she hadn’t heard from for several years contacted her with an order. She wanted ten handmade rings at $12 apiece. Yep…you do the math. Amy had been blessed with the exact amount of money she had given.

That’s not the end of the story. As she looked around online, she found a used couch she really liked and sent a text to the owner. The quick reply shocked her. The seller was a friend from church, who wrote, “Amy! I will totally give that couch to you!”

Several months later, Amy was selling handmade and used items at a farmer’s market, still trying to make ends meet. A young family of six came to her booth with $20 in hand, looking for good, usable clothing. Amy learned they had recently entered the U.S. as refugees from Afghanistan by way of Qatar. They each had the clothes they wore and one more outfit. “Keep your $20 and take everything you can use,” she told them. Since then, she has sourced children’s clothing for them and others in need within the church community. God has blessed.

The essence of the Christian life is obedience to Jesus. We may or may not be repaid with material blessings, but obedience always brings reward. “Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to Thee.”

“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10).

About the Author: Ruth McDonald began her role as WNAC director in November 2022. She and her husband Donnie served as missionaries in Japan for 38 years, most recently in the Good News Chapel in the greater Tokyo area. Learn more: WNAC.org.