11rl0603ex - The Problem With Giving

Hey guys, I know we have all been thinking about money lately, with raising money and money deadlines coming up and everything else. As we know, money can be a wonderful thing. Money can also be a very bad and dangerous thing... mainly if someone has too little of it or if someone has too much of it.

I just wanted to share with yall something that the Lord has been teaching me lately. I posted a blog about it (lindsayyadamss.blogspot.com) and I really wanted to share it with yall as well.

I was reading Exodus 36 this morning, and I was extremely convicted of what we, as the church- the body of Christ- think that "giving" or "sacrifice" or "offering" is supposed to look like. Previously in Exodus 35, God commanded Moses to build a sanctuary and gave him very detailed instructions on what materials to use and explicit details on how to build it.

Moses said to the entire Israelite community, starting in verse 4:

“This is what the LORD has commanded: From what you have, take an offering for the LORD. Everyone who is willing is to bring to the LORD an offering..."

The Israelites were commanded to bring an offering of what they had (gold, silver, linen, etc.) to do what God had commanded them to do.

Here is what happens in verses 20- 29:

" ²⁰Then the whole Israelite community withdrew from Moses’ presence, and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved them came and brought an offering to the LORD... ²⁹ All the Israelite men and women who were willing brought to the LORD freewill offerings for all the work the LORD through Moses had commanded them to do."

OK, so this sounds familiar. God speaks... He brings up a need (in this case, a need for a sanctuary) and asks His people to bring sacrifices and to give offerings to do the work that God has commanded them to do. The people obey, and as verse 21 says,"...everyone who was willing and whose heart moved them came and brought an offering to the LORD..."

Up until this point, this sounds very similar to how we think about freewill offerings today. If we feel lead to give and God has placed something on our heart, we will bring an offering to the Lord. However, Chapter 36 changed everything for me.

THE PEOPLE BRING MORE THAN ENOUGH.

In Exodus 36 verse 5 it says "The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do."

THE PEOPLE WERE RESTRAINED FROM GIVING.

In verses 6 & 7 it even says that "the people were restrained from giving, for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more."

THEY OFFERED ENOUGH TO DO ALL THE WORK... AND MORE.

And MORE. God commanded the Israelites to give what they had to do what God commanded them to do.. in this case, build the sanctuary. They were obedient- to the point where their offerings were more than enough to do the job, and they were actually RESTRAINED from giving. Their sacrifices were sufficient to do the work that God had commanded them to do... AND MORE.

What if the church today gave like this? What if we could say "STOP giving to Haiti, we have more than enough to rebuild what has been lost.." or "STOP giving to Japan, we have more than enough resources to help them.." or "STOP giving to build wells in India, everyone in India has clean water.." or "STOP giving to feed children in Africa,we have more than enough food for every hungry child.." or "STOP sponsoring children through Compassion, every child is taken care of and we actually have a waiting list for children who have not even been born.."

But we aren't being told to stop giving. What we have been giving is not more than enough... it's not even enough. Maybe some of us are doing our part, and giving to the point of sacrificial giving- when it hurts to give- but most of us are not. In America there are (supposedly) 224,457,000 Christians. That is close to 75% of our country. This doesn't match up.

I think the problem is that we have too much. As the body of Christ in one of the richest nations in the world, we really need to focus on Proverbs 30:7-9. I like the way The Message translation puts this- In Proverbs 30: 7-9 it says:

And then he prayed,

"God, I'm asking for two things
before I die; don't refuse me—

Banish lies from my lips

and liars from my presence.

Give me enough food to live on,

neither too much nor too little.

If I'm too full, I might get independent,

saying, 'God? Who needs him?'

If I'm poor, I might steal

and dishonor the name of my God."

Two things he prayed- to banish lies from his lips, and for God to give him neither too much nor too little. He recognized the problem that having too much can cause- we become too independent and don't rely on the Lord like we should. We become too comfortable. We shift our focus toward our belongings instead of focusing on WHO WE BELONG TO.

Something to think about. I know I felt extremely convicted when I read this this morning, so I just wanted to share with all of you and just to encourage you to continue to give freely to the Lord, whatever He has placed on your heart!! He is going to provide for each and every one of us- He has specifically called us to go on this trip!! I want to encourage you just to keep being obedient and trust that God will provide. I want to also encourage you to keep giving- even when it hurts to give. God knows my needs and He knows your needs. I just want to encourage you to keep giving!! Keep giving until we are told to stop giving! Hope everyone is doing wonderful, I can't wait to meet all of yall and just know that I am praying for you daily!

In Christ,

Lindsay