God’s promise for Week 4:
“My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Phil 4:19
For those who want further Scripture reading each day here are a couple of suggestions:
-Read one Psalm a day and meditate on it.
-Read a chapter or part of a chapter out of Acts or Matthew or Hebrews each day, focusing on the idea of faith.
Day 26
“Bring your whole tithe into the storehouse…Test me in this, says the Lord, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have enough room for it!" Mal 3:8-11
This week, as Mike and I got ready for our growth group to arrive, we got in a big argument. I know this probably never happens to any of you on growth group night, but tonight it did for us. Want to know what we were arguing about? Yep. Money. How we never seem to have quite enough to make ends meet. How we work and we work and we work and there just always seems to be a struggle. Hmmmm. I’m writing this week about faith in the area of our money and this is where I’m at. Pathetic. Wait, it gets better. As our growth group arrived and Mike and I attempted to switch from “at-each-other’s-throats" mode into “loving-caring-growth-group-leader" mode, God was preparing to speak directly to my heart about my lack of faith in His ability and His willingness to look after our material needs. One of the Bible verses we studied that night was “he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord" (James 1:6-7). Talk about eating my own words! I think God has been trying to teach me to trust him for my material needs for my entire adult life and I still haven’t got it. I still have arguments with my husband over how we’ll pay all of our bills. I still wonder as I watch my tithe cheque disappear into the offering basket which bills I won’t be able to pay because of it. I like to think I give out of a cheerful heart, but now I see that I more often give out of a heart filled with doubt and fear. As much as I hate to admit it, I am like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. I’m standing here, month after month and year after year, squinting into the sky with my arms wide open, waiting for the floodgates of heaven to open, while deep in my heart I am tossed around by the waves of doubt. I fear that maybe I waste too much money and therefore God won’t help me; I fear that if I don’t give, sudden calamity will overtake us; I fear that I give for the wrong reasons: I fear, I fear, I fear. "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24)
Doesn’t this sum up perfectly how we feel a lot of the time? During this week’s Bible study, it was like the sun finally came up after many years of living in the dimness of the pre-dawn morning. “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt" (James 1:6 emphasis mine). I have done a lot of asking for wisdom in the area of my finances, followed by a whole lot of doubting. But thankfully, God’s mercies are new every morning! I can repent of my doubts and my fears and choose to believe that God will answer. I don’t know about you, but from now on, when I ask God to look after me and give me wisdom, I will expect to get it.
Prayer:
Lord, forgive my unbelief in your ability to care for my material needs. I am choosing today to believe instead of doubt.
In faith:
Pray for your ‘hopeless cases’, pray for your own ‘hopeless heart’, and pray for wisdom—and then expect to get it!!!
