1 Chronicles 29:14 “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.”

The truth that David expresses here is one we have a hard time remembering. We are quick to try to bargain with God, offering Him something if He will do something for us. When it came from Him in the first place, what sense is that? Or, we think that because we have given stuff to Him, He is somehow obligated to us. That is likewise absurd. All we can genuinely offer to God is our obedience, and that is due Him anyway. Good parents do thank their children for obedience, but it’s something the children should do even without being thanked. What we can offer to God that is pleasing to Him is humility, gratitude, and praise. All of those actually bless us probably as much as they bless God. We are so much better off when we can abandon pride, countless studies have demonstrated that genuine happiness is predicated on an attitude of gratitude, and every genuine believer has experienced how good it feels to praise God. God doesn’t ask these things of us because He needs them, emotionally or otherwise, but because we do. Likewise, He doesn’t ask us to give materially because He needs anything, but because we benefit from the experience of giving. We need to remember that because God is infinite, there is no such thing as a “zero-sum game” in His economy. Giving to Him is a recognition that He is the Source of everything, and a participation in His nature.

This is a very relevant issue for us right now, as we are planning something at God’s direction that is going to take a lot of money. We are to give and we are to allow others to give, but we’ve got to remember that God is the source of it all. He is the Source not only of the finances, but also of the wisdom and skill necessary not only to build it but to operate it. We give that fact lip service, but much of the time we are either anxious (when we don’t see the supply) or proud (when we think we have met the need). I can’t control anyone else’ heart, but I can pray for them, and I must keep watch over my own heart. I am not to be presumptuous, but I am to trust God totally. He made it all, and He’s going to arrange it to fulfill His purposes.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I keep creating scenarios in my mind of how You might supply this or that, but I seldom get it right. Help me release it all to You and indeed rest, relax, and rejoice, as You have told me to do, so that all of Your purposes may be fulfilled on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!