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Finances: A Hundred Ways to Do It Right

(Reposted on Sep 21, 2011 to make sure new subscribers received it!)

Dear friends, I have had on my heart for quite a while to write to you my thoughts on the economy of the kingdom of God. I have quite a number of thoughts, actually, and like a homeless beaver staring at a new forest I new I had to get started but I didn’t know where to begin. To resolve that freezing tension I have decided to throw my usual obsession with being linear out the window. Instead, I will walk around the room of my mind, sitting in different chairs, and looking out of different windows and simply tell you what I see, and, oh yeah, the room is called finances for the work of the kingdom.

This morning I am thinking of how there are no rules for how God will make provision for his people, and to spend much time building exacting formulas seems wasteful. In seasons and times and places there have been provisions of manna from the sky, coins from the fish mouth, miracles for widows from small jars, miracles in wine in large jars, and offerings placed at the apostles feet. Men have farmed, served, made, sold and traded for a living for as far as history has reached, and God has seen fit to bring provision through that labor as well. There a principles and lessons inside of each one, I am sure, but the greatest lesson for me might be that God can provide through anything and so we must choose not become to prejudiced, too opinionated, too entrenched in looking up at only one rain cloud of provision or we may find ourselves swimming in resources but unable to receive it because our judgements have blinded us to the rising tide of God’s favor which simply came from an unexpected direction. Lesson summary: expect God’s favor from every direction and learn how to say thank you in several languages.

With this in mind I challenge you a few things. First, write down on a single page the sources of financial and life provision--which might include housing, food, transportation, etc.--that has come to you in the last year and note the source of that provision. Decide how to offer some thanks to God for each one since he saw fit to take care of you during this season using these things. He, after all, gets all the credit for the flow of resources, not your skill, not luck, not the markets, not the government, and not your employer. See how in the passage from 2 Corinthians 9 that God gets the credit for the actual supply: “Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” For us to learn that God’s intention is to make us rich (“you will be made rich in every way”) sure takes the burden off of us to try and create our resources and hold on to them, instead we can take joy in the work of our hands as the writer of Ecclesiastes underlines in chapter 2. After overviewing how all the results of hard work were only temporarily held in the hands of the worker he concludes, “A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God.” Give elaborate and specific thanks to God whose desire is not only provide for you and give you joy in your labor, but whose desire is to make your rich so that you can be generous in every occasion.

Second, I would challenge you take special note of where you have not received any provision in this last season. If you are in ministry work, did you receive no hourly wage for anything? If you are in business, did you receive no offerings or gifts for your family? If you are a business for missions person have you received the tithes and offerings on your principle? Did you only receive weekly compensation, but no residual income from investments? Do you never invest in fear of lacking in the present? If you are retired, did you receive only your pension, and not anything from present labor? These questions are not designed to create any sense of judgement around you, but only to inspire an exercise: repent for judging any avenue of God’s provision by saying aloud, “Father, forgive me if I have held any prejudice in my heart against this avenue of your provision. If you have a blessing in store for me from this area then I choose to have open hands to receive it and I will remember to thank you when I receive it since it has not been my nature to see it coming from that direction.” Simple, wasn’t it? I am not implying that you need to change jobs, change your weekly schedule, or modify anything. I simply asked you to repent from prejudice so that IF the Lord were to ask you to apply yourself, or receive a certain kind of blessing, you would not be blind and unable to enjoy it.

I am fond of saying, “There are always a hundred ways to do something the right way.” I find this attitude inspires my sons instead of chaining them to the ground with my expectations. I hope this encouragement has unchained you a bit from the expectations in your own heart of how God will supply your needs. Together we can hope that his obsession with supplying us will eventually overwhelm every foolish prejudice and principle we cling to while the flood of provision continues to rise all around.