Look at the Birds of the Air and the Lilies of the Field

Matthew 6:25-34 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet yor heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value then they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Why do I worry? Why do I feel like I need to help God out? I have seen Him do mighty things, but yet I still find myself back at the same place...not trusting Him and looking for ways that I might be able to help Him out.

It was just recently that the Lord spoke to my heart in my private time with Him. He showed me that all He wants me to do is spend time knowing Him and to serve my family. Nothing more. He spoke to my heart and said, "Instead of working for someone else, why don't you work for Me?" Wow, the God of the universe wants me to work for Him. He also gave me a promise with the call to work for Him that He would be a good boss...and He does payroll!

This old feeling of wanting to work for my finances takes me back to the first year of salvation. I had been a very materialistic person in my past life. It was all about what I could buy and what I had. That really defined who I was before Christ. Well, old habits die hard. It was something the Lord really had to work on with me. It was no longer about me, but His Kingdom. One day, I read the Word and I found a treasure in Malachi. This Word would change my life and my financial goals.

I was a single mother of two getting ready to start college. It was a big stressor for me. I had moved from Arizona to Wisconsin to be with my family. I lived with my parents for a year and it was time for me to get out on my own. I was a little worried about my financial situation. I was about to get a car payment, rent, utilities, phone, car insurance and all of the other necessary things I needed to make it on my own. I was going from a full time job of $8.50 per hour down to one day a week. This was going to be a stretch for me. I started getting kind of scared not knowing what to expect. After all, I had just gone through a divorce that devestated me financially and I just didn't want to go through that again...or my kids for that matter.

One evening, I was reading the Word. I don't know how I came across the passage, but there it was. I wasn't even thinking about it, but I knew when I read it the Lord wanted me to trust Him with something I had long held on to...my money. Malachi 3:10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this," says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. This was a stunning promise and one that would really challenge me. For one, I thought it was interesting that God said to "Try Him in this." It's the only place in the bible I knew of that the Lord said to test Him. Up until this point, the money I made was being saved and I considered it to be mine. I remember sitting there at my table with a calculator figuring it out in my head and on a scratch pad how far behind I would be if I gave 10% of my money away. My money? I realized later, God didn't need my money. It was His anyway. But He did expect obedience and faith in this area and I, at that moment, gave it over to Him. I would later find out that human calculations were not at all like God's calculations.

I, in my spiritual immaturity, had not seen the Hand of God in my finances nor had I had any intention of handing it over to Him. I would do everything in my power to not go through the financial devestation I had just gone through. So my finances were something I planned on controlling. But on this particular evening, the Lord spoke to my heart in such a powerful way. He poured His deep love into my heart and He let me know I could trust Him with my finances. I sat at my table at my new apartment and offered up my finances to the Lord. From that day forward, I would tithe on all of my finances by faith.

Over the next three and a half years, the Lord would teach me many, many things through this journey. He cared for me in such a fatherly way and showed Himself strong over and over. He cared for me deeply even in what I considered the small things. At one point, I was saving money to get a couch for my living room. It was tattered and in horrible condition. I received a letter in the mail from my church asking everyone to prayerfully consider giving to the building fund at our church. I looked over at the stuffing coming out of my couch. I felt the Lord again urging me to trust Him. I said in my heart, "Ok, I will commit the money I had saved for my couch. I will trust you for my couch." I even took it a step further and said, "By the way Lord, you know that I hate looking for his kind of stuff so could you just bring it to me? I really don't even want to go and look for a new couch." Three weeks later my phone rang and it was my parents' neighbor. She just wanted to give me a call to see if I had a need for a couch. I was so surprised that I asked if she had talked to my parents. They had not told her anything. By the Spirit of God, He placed me on her heart and she called. So instead of $1000 for a new couch, I spent $150 and I got a new couch and loveseat AND matching curtains for both of my windows!

During this period of time, I went from working full time down to working one day a week. In one year, I paid off my $8500 car. By the time I graduated from nursing school three and a half years later, I had no debt, a nursing degree, and $20,000 in the bank. To this day, I can't explain how the Lord did it nor do I understand it. If I tried to take a calculator and figure it out, it just wouldn't make sense. But God's Word makes perfect sense. Doesn't He sound like a trustworthy employer? It was nothing that I did on my own. I just walked with Him and He did it all. He takes care of the birds of the air and the lilies of the field and He took care of me...with abundance He took care of me and my children.

Having no debt after nursing school and a nice savings was just such a small part of it. The closeness I felt with the Lord and the spiritual richness I received from Him, was far more valuable than the money. Learning to trust Him in an area that I wanted to control was a great benefit to me financially and spiritually. Believing His Word and seeing it unfold while I put my trust in the Lord was a remarkable experience for me. I grew deeper in my love for Christ and drew close to His heart.

So I ask myself again and again, why do I want to work to control my finances? After all, the Lord has asked me to work for Him and He seems to me to be the best employer one could have. As I relive this experience, it should be so simple, right?. Give it to God and just let Him provide. But yet over and over I find myself back to wanting to "do something." I want control. But the Lord is merciful and over and over He gently draw me back to that place of trust. I am kicking and fighting Him, but He keeps drawing me.

So why do I still fear trusting Him? Is working for the Lord not enough? Shouldn't that be just enough? If I could only remember the richness of Him and how much He wants to take me under His wing and provide for me richly. I need to remind myself that I am complete in Him and desire to trust Him with all my heart like I did then. He's no different. He's still the same. He still has all of the resources. He still wants to provide everything for me and He does. All I have to do is be available for Him and work for Him.

I long to, with all my heart, go back to having that kind of faith...to completely and totally trust Him like I did in those years. I want to benefit from Him like I did then. Not financially, but in the love of Christ. His love and provision has no boundaries. You can't measure the depth of His love or how wide His resources are. But by faith, we know He is able and His Word is true.

Many years ago, I trusted in God's Word. So today, I recommit myself to trusting in His Word for my life...the call He has on my life. I am trusting the call of God to just work for Him. I am trusting Him with all that I have...I don't have much to offer Him, but what I have, He wants. I give it to Him freely and know that I am answering the call of God. I can't guarantee I will be the best employee...but I can guarantee He is the best, most worthy employer.