Ezra 1:6 All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.

God’s provision often comes through human channels. Sometimes He allows us to discover it, most often He gives us the ability to earn or produce it, but it’s not at all unusual for Him to use human agents to give it to us. When we start demanding that people give us stuff that we haven’t earned, that becomes a major problem, as is evident in many countries around the world today. That’s just a hair’s breadth away from stealing. Sadly, many people have a sense of entitlement that causes them to demand, and often enough cross the line to outright theft. For the Christian, that should be absolutely out of the question. However, as in the situation in today’s passage, just as it was when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, sometimes God uses the people around us, even non-Christians, to provide for His people. I think the most important thing to get from this story is that God isn’t limited in how He provides. Often, we get so focused on one particular way in which we expect Him to provide that we fail to recognize His provision through another avenue. God wants our dependence to be on Him, and not on any particular channel of provision.

I am reminded of how God caused the head of one of the companies involved in building this building to propose a payment schedule, when we ran out of money because of cost overruns. I had been looking for “pennies from heaven,” so to speak, and God had something much more mundane, yet more faith-building, in mind. As a result, this building was paid off years ago without ever paying interest to a bank. Right now we are looking at purchasing the land on which the building stands, and at this point it appears that we will again be making payments directly, rather than going through any sort of financial institution. However, God is quite capable of moving people to give us things – land, finances, or whatever – if that is what would be best for us. I need to be a faithful steward of all God provides, however He provides it, and I need to be careful not to overlook His provision however He chooses to make it.

Father, You are indeed more than generous. Thank You that we will be able to submit our formal church registration today, which will grant the church tax-exempt status. Your provision there, of people, skills, and willingness, wasn’t anything I had planned. I pray that we would be alert to recognize Your guidance as well as Your provision in everything, following Your plans step by step, on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!