PAY IT FORWARD

Paying It Forward

“It is more blessed to give than receive.” —Acts 20:35

Yesterday I had to take a package to the Post Office to send “Priority Mail.” I planned to charge the postage to my Visa Card. But, when I arrived at the Post Office signs were posted on the lobby door that read the Debit/Credit machines were out of order. I checked my wallet to see how much cash I had—Only $13.00. I thought to myself, “I hope this package doesn’t cost more than $13.”

I waited in line until next customer window was available. The postal worker weighed my package. She said it would cost $28 to send “Priority Mail.” I told her, I only had $13 dollars cash. Immediately a lady behind me in line stepped up and said, “Let me pay the postage for you!” I never saw her before. She was a perfect stranger! I was shocked. The postal worker’s jaw dropped. I said, “Oh you don’t have to do that! I’ll just come back later.” She insisted and said, “No, I want pay your postage!” So she added $15 of her money to my $13 and paid the postage. I thanked her and left.

As I drove back to the church office I thanked the Lord for that stranger’s kindness. I began to think about it. Why did she do that? Then Luke 6:36 came to my mind, “Give and it shall be given unto you.”  Perhaps this was a case of “Paying It Forward”—When someone does a good deed for you, instead of paying them back, pay it forward by doing a good deed for someone else. Maybe this stranger paying my postage was God’s way of giving back to me for the times I gave money to strangers who needed gas money or something to eat. As Ecclesiastes 11:1 says, “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.”

Know this: Anytime you give, it will come back to you in some form or another. God will see to it!