You Can’t Out Give God

²⁰ Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife [Hannah], and say, “May the Lord give you children by this woman for the petition she asked of the Lord.” So then they would return to their home.

²¹ Indeed the Lord visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord. 

1 Samuel 2:20, 21 (ESV)

Hannah was childless. Not only did Hannah know the anguish of wanting a child and not having one,  she was also belittled because of it by her rival Peninnah. Hannah cried out to the Lord and asked Him to grant her a son. If the Lord would give her a son, Hannah promised that she would give him to full-time service of the Lord. The Lord heard Hannah’s plea, and He gave her a son whose name would be Samuel.  The name Samuel means “heard by God”.  Hannah kept her promise to God and as soon as Samuel was weaned she took him to the House of the Lord. 

Imagine praying for and waiting to be able to have a child, having that child, and then sending them off to grow up somewhere outside your home.  I wonder if Hannah was tempted to hold back her promise and keep Samuel at home with her.  So many people hold back what they should rightly give to God. Whether it is our time, money, lives, etc., we think we just can’t afford to give what God is asking us to give.  Sometimes we feel that it is just unfair that God would even ask us to give. The truth of it is that everything we have is the Lord’s to begin with (Psalm 24:1).

The good news is that you can’t out give God! Hannah was faithful and gave her son to the service of the Lord, and God blessed her abundantly. Hannah, the woman who at first could not conceive at all, after her faithfulness with her only child, was blessed by the Lord with five additional children. 

No matter how much we think we have sacrificed to give to God, the reality is that our sacrifice is miniscule compared to the abundance that God gives us. The Bible tells us that “he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. “ (2 Corinthians 9:6) No matter how faithful we are God is always more faithful.

We hold back our time, service, and money because we reason that we just cannot afford it. Hannah, who once was childless, ultimately had six children. Imagine if she had never promised Samuel to the Lord. Imagine if she was not faithful in following through on her promise. The lesson here is not to try to cut a deal with the Lord, but to be faithful in giving to God that which He has already asked:  our time, talent and treasure. When we give, it often seems like a sacrifice at first; however, God is always faithful and gives back in abundance.