Handley C. G. Moule of England was the chief editor of the magazine Life and Faith. He was a great man before the Lord in many ways. One of his outstanding achievements was his knowledge of the Bible. He trusted in the Lord for his living. Throughout his life, he experienced wants and trials many times, but because he knew Luke 6:38, he would tell his wife whenever he was in need, “There must be something wrong with our giving lately.” He did not speak of the need in his house. Instead, his thoughts were on his giving.
Once his house was almost empty of everything. He did not even have flour, the main staple of the English diet. He waited for two days, but no one brought him anything. He then told his wife, “There must be something in our house that we do not need.” He did not ask the Lord for flour. Instead he said, “There must be something excessive in our house. This is why the Lord does not give.” They knelt and prayed and asked the Lord to show them any excess they had in the house. After praying, they looked through every item. They began with the attic, checking to see whether or not a particular item was redundant. They even went through their children’s belongings and found that they had just enough of what they needed. Mr. Moule then told the Lord, “There is truly nothing excessive in this house. Lord, You have made a mistake in not supplying us with what we need.” After a brief pause, he told his wife, “The Lord never makes mistakes. There has to be some excess in our house.” They checked again. When they came to the cellar, they saw a carton of butter, which had been given to them many days earlier. Mr. Moule was happy when he saw the carton. He told his wife, “This must be the excess.”
Both of them were rather elderly. They had for many years learned the lesson of giving. They knew the Lord’s words: “Give, and it will be given to you.” They were anxious to give away the carton of butter. But who should they give it to? Mr. Moule was a responsible brother in his church. After looking down the list of brothers and sisters who were poor, he decided to give every one of them a piece. The old couple cut the carton of butter into small pieces, wrapped them up, and sent them to these brothers and sisters. After sending out all the packets, he told his wife, “Now, we have cleared up this matter.” They then knelt down and prayed, “Lord, may we remind You of what You have said: ‘Give, and it will be given to you.’ Please remember that we have no more flour.”
That was perhaps a Saturday. Among those who had received the butter, there was a very poor sister who had been paralyzed and bed-ridden for years. For days, she had been eating her bread without butter and had been praying, “Lord, have mercy on me. Give me a little butter.” Soon after this prayer, Mr. Moule came with the butter. She immediately thanked the Lord for this. A while later, she lifted up her head and prayed again, “Lord, although Brother Moule lacks nothing and has given me this butter, hear his prayer if he has any lack.” Brother Moule had not told anyone about his lack, and no one knew about it. Some even rumored that Moule was a very rich brother, that he always gave things away, and that he had bought all that butter purposely to distribute to others. But this sister prayed, “If he has any lack, please answer his prayer.” On that same day, probably within two or three hours, Mr. Moule received two sacks of flour. His problem was solved.
We have to believe in every word of the Lord. Most people have difficulty taking God’s Word as God’s word. Mr. Moule believed God’s Word to be God’s word. If you do not give, you definitely will not receive. If you give to others, others will surely give to you. This is why we need to learn to give. Giving is not the end; it enables God to give to us. This is the principle of Christian financial stewardship. Do not expect God to supply you with anything if there is excess in your house.
A co-worker once told me, “During the past twenty years, every time money has remained in my hand, there has always been a problem.” If there is a problem in giving, there will be a problem in receiving. The more you want to keep, the less you will have. The more you want to give, the more you will have. Most people hold on tightly to all that they have, and so God lets them hold on to that little amount. They have not learned to give. If the grace of giving is not in you, the grace of God will not be upon you. If you do not have grace for others, you will have little of God’s grace for yourself.