God needs nothing, more so anything we can give Him. Consequently, when we give to God, He gives it back sometimes multiplied. “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.”

(Ecclesiastes 11:1 KJV) [Pardon an aside, but the NIV translates this passage as promoting the wisdom of international trade which is strange in light of numerous other passages and Solomon’s related advice]. This is a portrait of giving, which sometimes seems futile and arbitrary, but nevertheless returns to us. Yeshua said, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38) It’s not an algorithm or machine where you put in X and get back Y. In heaven the rest of many stories will be revealed, for example, we will see what happened to the widow who put her last two pennies in the offering. God was watching, He remarked at the greatness of her gift, “…all she had.” (Luke 21:4) 

It’s hard to talk about giving without thinking of money, but it’s the last thing God wants from us. He wants faith and the fruit which it produces. How is this given to God? By exercising it upon an uncertain place which can’t be fully seen with currents and influences that seemingly move constantly in every direction. Like a note in a bottle, it requires faith (or desperation) to believe anything cast upon the sea would find its proper destination. God is Sovereign over all creation including weather, wind, animals, even people. (Rom. 9:6-26) This does not mean we are to give in to fatalism, but rather we live by faith looking to God for every thing, in every situation, at each crossroad and believing His word enough to trust Him for the outcome. It is why we can love and forgive our enemies. It is how we know there is eternal life for Believers after we die. It is how we believe the prophetic word of God which reveals the destruction of earth by fire and a new heaven and earth. (Rev. 21:1) It is how we live as followers of Yeshua who gave His life for us and was resurrected to eternal life and glory. We also give our lives to Him, that we can save it for eternity. “Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.” (Luke 17:33)