Facing the Giant of MoneySýnishorn

The law of reciprocity

‘After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD...gave him twice as much as he had before.’ Job 42:10 NIV 

Mother Teresa writes, ‘One night a man came to our house and said, “There’s a family of eight children who haven’t eaten for days.” I took some food and went to see them. When I got there I saw the faces of little children disfigured with malnutrition. There was no sadness, just the pain of hunger. I gave a sack of rice to the mother. She kept one half and went out carrying the other. When she came back I asked, “Where did you go?” She answered, “To my neighbours, they are hungry also.” ‘I was not surprised that she gave, the poor are usually very generous. But I was surprised that she knew they were hungry. As a rule, when we’re suffering, we’re so focused on ourselves that we have no time for others.’ 

When Job became more concerned about others than himself, God healed him and gave him back twice as much as he had before. It’s the law of reciprocity. It teaches you two things:

1) You can give your way out of trouble. Jesus said, ‘Give, and it will be given to you’ (Luke 6:38 NIV). Your future starts with whatever you have in your hand today. Nothing is too little to multiply but you have to sow it! 

2) What you’re willing to do for someone else determines what God is willing to do for you. Listen: ‘Whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord’ (Ephesians 6:8 NKJV). 

Prayer Point: 

In my times of lack and poverty, Lord, help me not to wallow in my need and distress. Help me pray more earnestly for others in the same situation as me. Lord, it’s in these times that I know the kingdom is near, that the opportunity for You to work a miracle is tangible. Lord, help me to really appreciate even the smallest acts of kindness towards me, and that when a miracle comes I would be grateful to receive. Amen.

Acknowledgements: Merritt, James, Friends, Foes and Fools (Maitland, FL: Xulon Press, 1997).