Lessons
in Obedience
"My mother and brothers are those who hear God's
word and put it into practice."
Luke 8:21
As we prepare to start teaching another round of
Crown Financial Small Group
Studies I can’t help but think of the awesome grace of our Lord that has
brought me to this place where I am now.
When I first started attending a Vineyard Church a few years ago in
Indianapolis, I was living paycheck-to-paycheck, deep in debt but still
spending money frivolously on things that definitely were not part of God’s
will for my spiritual life. I was driving a vehicle that was way too
extravagant for me at the time, which I couldn’t have afforded except for the
easy finance lease, while also trying to impress others with money I didn’t
have.
I knew that as a Christian I was supposed to give money to the church. In
fact, I received a weekly reminder as they passed around the collection plate.
However, week after week as the plate passed by, I would maybe throw in the
last few remaining dollars that weren’t contributed to Budweiser & Marlboro
the evening before or, more often, nothing at all. I figured that God knew my
financial situation and understood that I needed to pay off my debts first and
I had to retain some kind of social life. And constantly, week after week, I
would promise that if I could just make a little more money, then I could
afford to give to His kingdom. Over the next year or so I received two
promotions that came with hefty raises. However, I now had a new lifestyle to
maintain—God never saw a dime of those raises and I continued to remain in
debt.
It wasn’t until I had moved to South Florida and started attending
Calvary Chapel Fort
Lauderdale and heard a message from Pastor Bob Coy that opened my eyes to
just what the Word has to say about our money and finances. At the time I had
no idea that it is the second-most talked about topic in the Bible with 2,350
verses! Since that one sermon, it has been a focus of mine to learn as much as
possible of what God has to say our about money and possessions and attempt to
apply it on a daily basis.
When considering money, finances, possessions, retirement savings, and
anything else dealing with money I try to keep in mind these three basic
scriptural principles:
Faith – Part of what really struck me as part of Pastor Bob Coy’s
message was the timing. I had recently moved to South Florida and was working
for a software company in Miami for a few months when I was laid off without
warning. At the time, my wife and I were engaged but planning our wedding. I
had just bought her engagement ring, which nearly depleted my savings, and I
was living in a separate apartment and still had debts to pay. The
unemployment that I received came to $350 every two weeks.
Fortunately, I had a little left in savings to pay my rent up for the next
couple of months until the time of our wedding, and could make my next couple
of car payments with the unemployment money. However, my car insurance was due
and I had no money left over for groceries.
Then, Pastor Bob has the nerve to come to the pulpit and solicit me for money!
What nerve! I’ll never forget part of his message though:
“Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask,
‘How do we rob you?’ “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the
whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into
the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says
the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of
heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for
it.”
Malachi 3:8-10
This is the one place in the Bible where God challenges
us to test Him in anything, so I did. With the little money that I had from my
unemployment check I just received, I tithed my 10%… a whopping $35 to the
kingdom of God! I had no idea how I was going to buy groceries for the week
or, even worse, how I was going to pay my car insurance that was due for the
quarter.
Was God faithful? You better believe it. A couple of days later I received a
state tax return from Indiana that had been lost in the mail for nearly three
years! The expiration date on the check was only a couple of months away and
it was enough money to not only pay my insurance and buy some groceries, but
also a few dollars left over.
That very valuable lesson taught me that God will always be faithful, He will
never let us down. We just need to put our faith and trust in Him always, even
when things look impossible.
Contentment – Another harsh lesson that I had to learn is to be content
in all circumstances, just as the apostle Paul:
“…for I have learned to be content whatever the
circumstances”
Philippians 4:11
We typically do a lot of traveling in the summer for
vacations and visiting relatives. Down to Orlando, up to Ohio, back down to
Fort Lauderdale, back up to Philadelphia… after a while we start to feel like
a geographical yo-yo! It’s during these trips in our sedan that we really
started coveting a new mini-van—one of those with the built-in DVD player for
the kids. Maybe with the satellite navigational system and the power sliding
side doors that makes your feel like your boarding the Space Shuttle. After
one of our trips we even went to the dealership to see about trading our
three-year old car in on one of these new models. Hey…we could probably get us
one of these babies for only $600 a month!
Fortunately, however, the Lord really started knocking (more like pounding,
really) telling us clearly, “NO! Not right now!” Afterward we really felt
guilty for ever wanting such an extravagant thing. It was more than we needed,
more than we could afford, and we are already so blessed to have the safe,
reliable, and, usually, comfortable car that we have now.
Stewardship – Finally, the other thing that we try to keep in mind is
that all that we have, all that we earn, all that we obtain, is His, not ours.
We are simply given temporarily possession of it.
The heavens are yours, and the earth is yours;
everything in the world is yours – you created it all.
Psalm 89:11
We should try, whenever we’re going to make any kind of
purchase, big or small, to consider if it is a good use of God’s money. Think
about the things that you have spent money of recently and ask yourself,
“Would God have wanted me to buy this?” As I am typing right now I’m feeling a
little convicted about the computer system that I have. Not that God would be
against computers, but He probably wouldn’t have bought the new deluxe Dell
with the 256MB video card to play SimCity 4 on, or the upgraded sound system
with 9” woofers.
Yes, I’ve come a long way since trusting my life, and especially my finances,
to God and He has always been faithful and has kept all of His promises. I
have tested Him in this area and He has thrown open the floodgates of heaven
and blessed us more than I have ever thought possible. But I, like many of us,
still have so much to learn and so far to go in my spiritual walk. The main
thing to remember though, which really struck me as something new, is that
when we tithe we aren’t giving to the church, we’re giving to God and being
obedient to His instruction.
