If God had a Bazillion Dollars
What would God do if he had a bazillion dollars? Would he own one huge house somewhere? Or would he own a number of houses in prime locations? Would he drive a Hummer? Or would it be a Mercedes? Or, perhaps both? How about if God appeared on TV in an expensive suit and bad hairstyle on his own TV show; “The Apostle.” Each week he would levy the judgment “You’re Fired!” on an unworthy apostle.
No need to speculate.! God has a bazillion dollars. Actually, God has a bazillion dollars plus much much more. God has every single dollar there is plus every atom of creation. It is all of his makings and it is all his and he doesn’t use it to put on airs. God has almost everything that he wants, almost everything. One thing that he wants but he has never had is the heart of every one of his created human beings. He could cause us to give him our hearts but then it wouldn’t matter. In order for love to matter, it must be by choice; no requirement or demand.
If God can provide anything that he needs then what’s all this business about giving money for the church and for God’s work in the world? God has everything and we seem to have so little in comparison. It seems to never be quite enough. There’s the rub. It’s not about the money. It’s about our hearts.
We read in Psalm 50, “For every wild animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the air, and all that moves in the field is mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and all that is in it is mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High. Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” (Psalm 50: 10-15). Giving is to be thanksgiving to glorify God.
Money and, possessions, treasure, are the greatest sources of anxiety for people in our society. As such, money is an area in which we are greatly challenged in our ability to trust God. As such, it is also the area where it is most important for us to trust God. With trust lacking in even one area of our lives, our love for God is incomplete.
The earth is the LORD’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it (Psalm 24:1). We watch the stock market. We watch our investments. We keep our eyes focused closely on the economy. But we worry over the wrong economy. The economy we monitor is of humankind’s making. The economy that matters is God’s economy.
In God’s economy, there is sufficiency. He may not provide everything that we want, but he does provide everything that we need. And he alone is the expert on what we need.
If God wants us to tithe, and give beyond tithing, giving generously even when we seem to be at the end of our resources, then that is what we really need to do. God knows his economy. He knows that when we give we are blessed by the giving. It is a conversion of spirit from fear of the scarcity in humankind’s economy to thankful joy over the abundance in God’s economy. He knows that he will not leave us lacking anything that we need when we give generously out of whatever meager or mighty treasure we may have. And it is not that God suddenly releases treasure in response to our generous giving. It is we who free our own spirits to see the abundance that God provides us and use it joyfully.
Why doesn’t God just provide for his work in the world and for his churches? Simple. He is providing each of us with the gift of an opportunity. He is providing an opportunity clearly identified for us to show our love for him and to glorify him. He is giving us the opportunity to choose between the fear of the scarcity in humankind’s economy and the gift of freedom in believing the promise of God’s economy. How would you respond to the opportunity?
