Yesterday felt like God was proving a point in the most beautiful way.

Last week, CJ and I met a family for the first time. Total strangers. And yet in just a week, we have connected with them three different times. Yesterday, the Lord made it clear we were supposed to help them with a tangible need.

CJ has always had a gift of generosity. For years, I’ve heard him quote, “If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord, and He will repay you” (Proverbs 19:17 NLT).

I believed it with my head, but if I’m honest, I don’t know that I fully believed it in my heart.

While we were giving to this family yesterday, the exact amount we gave (actually a little more) came in through unexpected sales in our business. Almost at the very same time.

It felt like the Lord was saying,

Shelley, you can trust Me to provide when I ask you to give.

My friend Shae Bynes often says we are distribution centers. God pours into us so that we can pour out to others. Not to build up bigger storehouses for ourselves, but to release what He gives wherever He directs.

Yesterday, that became very real to me, and I cried happy tears.

Not because we received, but because we were able to give. It honestly felt like we were being hope dealers — carrying the light of Jesus into someone’s moment of need.

Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). I used to get more excited about buying something for myself and going shopping for something new. Yesterday I experienced a different kind of joy. The kind that comes from partnering with Jesus and distributing His hope in a practical way.

You are blessed to be a blessing. You are a distribution center in the Kingdom. And yes, you truly cannot outgive God.