The Privilege of trusting God
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Mt. 6:26
In this months cover story Christian Vestergaard reports that he has learned the privilege of trusting God for money. That got me thinking about the year 2006. This past year, I probably had to trust God for money more than I ever have in my life. Especially when I consider the finances of the entire mission.
If you had asked me in the spring how Prayer League finances were doing, I would have given a pretty bleak answer. Sometimes I wondered if any allowances at all would be paid to many of our missionaries. I even expected it!
But then strange things started happening. A $34,000 gift allowed us to meet allowances one month, with a few dollars to spare. Another month we seemed close to no allowances at all. But we paid the bills and added up the remainder and had enough for nearly 70% of target allowances. We paid full allowances in yet another month, and I did not have a good explanation of how it happened. In five different months this year, I was left scratching my head and wondering how things turned out as well as they did.
Even after ending the year with five consecutive months of full allowances, in my opinion things still look pretty shaky for next year. Our regular giving trends have not changed appreciably, yet expenses continue to rise. But one thing has changed, at least for me personally. I have understood more than ever the privilege of trusting in God to meet the financial needs of the mission.
Why is this a privilege? One reason is that it is comforting to know that it is not my job to make sure WMPL receives enough finances. I already knew this in my head but this past year I understood it better in my heart.
Another reason is that trusting keeps us closer to God. If we are looking to God each and every month to meet our needs, we will not easily forget our dependence upon him. If on the other hand we have a balance sitting in the bank good enough to meet many months of need, it is easier to forget about God in the area of finances. An immediate need has always served to draw us closer to God.
Of course the entire Christian life is based on trusting God. Two of our retired missionaries died in 2006. Both reportedly said on the day of their death, Im going home today. Those who heard them did not immediately understand what they meant. Only after their deaths did it become clear that these dear women knew that they were going to finish the race on that very day and go home to be with Jesus. That is the fruit of a life lived in dependence upon God. There is no way to attain salvation apart from trust in God. Why not trust him for something temporal like finances, too?