Often our Heavenly Father gives us more than what we ask for. This is not because He is out of touch and so rich with blessings that He's done the equivalent of giving us ten dollars to buy a single banana. He is also not giving us some kind of tip or bonus for doing such a great job. God gives us more than we asked for because He knows that one of the best feelings in the universe is blessing the lives of those who are in need and by giving us more than we need He is also giving us the opportunity to experience first-hand the joy and warm glow of satisfaction in seeing someone else's day get a little bit brighter. When we come to see ourselves not as helpless and hapless recipients with no option but to wait on the dole for a handout, but rather as righteous and faithful stewards with the power and the latitude to collaborate with God on how best to distribute His blessings, then we will never have to feel the sting of “giving up” what we have to charity because we will know that it was not really ours in the first place and that in any case we can derive more pleasure and satisfaction by sharing out our Father's blessings than we could ever hope to gain by greedily clutching them all to ourselves. God doesn't want us to keep the change but to pay it forward to whomever needs it the most. As we shift our focus away from thinking how we can use the blessings we receive to take care of our own needs and dedicate our time and our attention to figuring out how these blessings will do the most good to those who need them the most, we will find that the Lord multiplies His gifts to us and that He finds a way to take care of our needs even as we get to work on taking care of the needs of others. I know that if we ask our Father for a fish, not only will He not give us a serpent, but He will give us so many fish that our boat starts to sink, and if we can manage to give it all away before any of it starts to go bad, then He's going to give us an even bigger haul the next time so we can help even more people.
