Stewarding Toward Success
“But lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven…” Matt. 6:20
On this Tax Day,
finances are placed In an irretrievable and indispensable position. There is not getting around it. Billy Graham once said, “If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help
straighten out almost every other area of his life.” However the opposite is just as true. Are
you involving God in your finances? Are you giving to God through your finances?
Money will test your spiritual life like few areas.
Since money will test
us, we need to ask “What does it test?” God uses money to test your
gratitude. God uses money to test your faith. God uses money to test your
priorities. God uses money to test your values. God uses money to test how
responsible and mature you are. God will even use money to test your character.
The Bible has story
after story of people in the Bible who gave him Lordship over every area. And when they did, God did His greatest work. We see it everywhere, miracle after
miracle, done because of people who were willing to make themselves available
to God. When Peter lent Jesus his boat, he
caught the greatest catch of his life. When the four friends lent their cot for
the paralyzed buddy, a miracle followed. When Jesus fed the 5,000, it was a little boy
who gave what he had leaving twelve basketfuls left over. In Matthew 22, Jesus has to pay
taxes and tells Peter to go get a particular fish and he would find a coin in
the fish's mouth. There are hundreds of
stories in the Bible and God is more than able to make “His grace abound to you.”
In 1945, Truett Cathy
and his brother Ben had a vision for building and operating a restaurant together. After pooling their savings, selling Truett’s
car, and finding favor with First National Bank of Atlanta, they were able to
put together $10,600. In his book, It’s Easier to Succeed Than to Fail,
Truett describes the obstacles they faced in those post-World War II years when
building materials were scarce. The larger
contractors were first in line for whatever was available. Truett and his
brother were forced to buy used building materials. Nails were so hard to find
they had to straighten old ones and reuse them. As their building neared completion, they
faced a second obstacle. They couldn’t
buy enough food for their grill. In Post
World War II, meat was hard to come by.
Larger more established restaurants were able to get around the
government controls. But a couple of
guys starting from scratch had no leverage in the tightly controlled food
business. In spite of their setbacks,
Truett and Ben opened the Dwarf Grill on schedule in May, 1946. As Truett walked around the outside of the
building on opening day, he was overwhelmed with God’s providential care and
intervention. He recognized that apart
from God’s help, the grill would never have been more than an idea.
He wrote: “I
walked around the outside alone, my heart filled with happiness that I couldn’t
express. I thanked God for helping us
and for giving us the courage to start and keep going.” In the years
that followed, Truett’s dream grew. He
said, “Ideas come from God- but they won’t keep. They have to be acted on.” In 1967, Truett
acted on his new idea. He built and dedicated his first Chic-Fil-A unit. In the
years that followed, Truett and his team went on to develop Chick-Fil-A into an
international restaurant chain with annual revenues approaching one billion
dollars. Those close to Truett will
attest to the fact that he has never forgotten God’s faithfulness to Him in the
early days. Their corporate purpose
statement reads: “To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to
us. To have a positive influence on all
who come in contact with Chick-Fil-A.” In doing so, Truett Cathy has closed
his restaurants on Sunday bringing God’s blessing to this multibillion dollar
company. Whether great or small, honoring
God should be the heart of each of us.
Whether a
go-for-broke dream or our everyday stewardship, God wants to be glorified
through our resources. Those of us who
call ourselves Christ followers have an ultimate loyalty and a full and final
allegiance to the God beyond the numbers, to the Supernatural One who architected and
oversees the entire economic universe. All
of us, who call Him our Lord should respond immediately and wholeheartedly, “I
will do whatever you ask me to do.”
Luke 16:11 says, “If you have not been trustworthy in
handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?” (NIV) Some
of us might read that and say, “What does my money have to do with
trustworthiness?” The Bible is saying,
“There is something huge at stake, whether we get it or not, regarding God’s
assessment of your life based on how you are handling your money.”
It’s simply pointing out that your investment funds on the
other side of the grave are far more important in the overall scheme of things
than your investments on this side of the grave. If all you do is pay attention
to the investment on this side of the grave, you’ve missed the plot entirely. God is really interested in developing an
eternal portfolio that pays off in eternity.
Of course, there are key elements to financial success including earning
right, spending right, saving right and investing right. But true blessing comes from “giving
right.” If you already do, let God
stretch you in tithes and offerings. If
you are in process, start to be stretched.
You’ll be amazed with the big things He can do with our giving.
Terry Risser
Reflections:
1)
How are you doing in trusting God with your
finances through giving in tithes and offerings?
2)
What is your greatest obstacle in full
stewardship to God? Do you trust that He
will come through for you?
Consider reading the Word today:
Copyright 2014- Terry Risser
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