Proverbs 3:9
Honor God with your possessions... Then your barns will be filled...And your vats will overflow!
Honor God? What honor does God need from us? God is not proud or egotistical...he has no need of our things...so then how can we honor God with anything we possess?
The success of our lives...really comes down to a matter of how we posture God...in our lives. God cannot bless us by sitting as a mere guest on the second or third row. He wants to sit in a place of honor, from where he can guide and direct us. Through our giving to God, we are in essence giving God an opportunity to do something for us from the driver seat of our future.
Let us consider the biblical story of Elijah and the woman from Zarephath, a small town in the country of Phoenicia. Elijah, upon entering the city, sees this women gathering sticks and asked her to bring him some water and a morsel of bread. She responded by saying, “I do not have any bread, but only a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a small jar…barely enough for me and my son...that we may eat it and die.”
Certainly she may have not had any bread...but she did have the ingredients to make some! It is amazing that the natural human response during our times of tribulation is to immediately look at our insufficiencies, and what we do not possess...instead of looking at our assets...the ingredients....the things that God has already given us; And even more importantly, what he can do with it..
God gives the woman an answer to her dilemma through the advice of Elijah. “Don’t be afraid…just make me a little bread first, and bring it to me...then afterwards make one for yourself…” It is impossible for God to take control of our situation if we through fear are not willing to give him control. We have to facilitate his blessing in our lives through faith. Once God has the preeminence, there is little that he cannot do, nor will not do on our behalf. There is no doubt that He has a willingness to perform, but we must give him the stage.
The story goes on to say, “She went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal did not go empty, neither did the jar of oil run dry.” The Hebrew word used for the word “go empty” is the word Kalah (kaw-law). It means to end or finish. How marvelous that God took a simple handful and turned it into an exceeding great blessing without end. What a beautiful picture of our eternal redemption! “For God so loved the world that He Gave...his only begotten Son...(his greatest asset) ...that whoever would believe in him would not perish… but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
I have been amazed at how people have a hard time understanding the difference between what they want and what they are willing to do to have what they want. Some want to be in good health, but are not willing to control their eating habits and exercise. Others want to be wealthy, but are not willing to take the sometimes risky steps from where they are to where they want to be.
Let us be of a willing heart and mind to honor God and the things of God by making him the Lord of every thought and action throughout each day of our lives no matter what situation we might find ourselves in.