How To Be Blessed – With Your Finances

Proverbs 3:9-10 – “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

One of the most tangible ways to see if someone is trusting God is in their finances. The promise in this verse is straight from God and it claims that if we’re faithful to give our offerings to God, then we will be blessed. The Old Testament standard was a tithe, or ten percent. The New Testament doesn’t set forth a specific percentage as the standard. I’ve heard it said this way though, if the standard under the law (Old Testament) is a tenth, how much more then should we give under grace (New Testament).

If we’re not giving our offering to God like we know He desires us to, then we’re not trusting God and we’re being disobedient. One reason God asks us to give our offerings to Him is to state that we know it all has come from Him, He is our provider. If we’re unwilling to give it, then we’re trusting more in that money than we are God, and we’ve lost site of the fact that God has given it to us in the first place.

The Bible teaches that we are to treat our finances and all that we have as belonging to God. If this is truly understood by the believer, whenever God ask us to give in whatever form it may be from money, furniture, clothes, food, or cars, then it will be much easier because we know it belongs to Him to be used as He desires.

So what if tithing puts you over your monthly budget? Good question, and I understand your dilemma and I feel your pain. Stephanie and I have been in this situation for much of the time we’ve been married. For a while it was easy to short-change God so we could have it for bills. We had it rationalized in our minds, but there was never peace in our hearts. We had to come to the decision that we were going to trust God for our finances–that it is not money that provides our food and clothing and the other things we need, but it is God. At the time we committed to this, tithing put us over budget by $400 dollars each month. I am proud to brag on God and say that He provided the entire time. And we would have never seen His consistent miracle working month after month had we not trusted Him and obeyed. Even today, giving the offerings we know God wants us to give keeps us over budget. And He consistently provides for us and keeps us out of debt.

As I said in yesterday’s post,

God is trustworthy. God knows better than we do. God knows what is best for us and His Kingdom. God knows how to get You through your current circumstance. We can cast our cares upon Him, for He greatly cares for us and He will deliver us. God is able.

We can’t continue to trust ourselves or money more than God. I have a promise for you and take this to heart. If you’re not being obedient with the little you have now, you won’t be obedient if you have abundance. Based on the principle in this proverb, you’re not going to have abundance until you start being obedient with what you have now. We can’t expect God to bless disobedience. I’ve been there, I know He doesn’t bless it. It just gets worse if you stay disobedient. You can’t say, “I’ll start obeying when this happens.” That is an offense to God.

God wants you to be blessed. I pray that you will trust God even through what appears impossible, so you can see the mighty hand of God provide for you filling your barns with plenty and your vats to overflowing (with grape juice of course).

Lord, teach me to trust You. Please increase my faith, speak to me what You desire of me and help me to fully obey for Your glory.