If we lived fearlessly, we would experience much more fruitfulness in our lives. Many people live in fear regarding their finances and provision and yet Jesus assures us that we do not have to!
Matthew 6:25-26 New King James Version (NKJV)
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”
I love whats Jesus is saying in this verse! You know? When I was in Sunday school, when I was growing up, this was a memory verse that I had to learn off by heart. I am so thankful for having had this truth drilled into me at such a young age! It really blessed me as I went on in life and was faced with tempting opportunities to worry. This verse was a constant encouragement to me! If you’re in a place of anxiety and worry then these truths that we are looking at will bless you, too! I’m not condemning you and I’m not unsympathetic. I understand the effects of fear and the circumstances that can cause fear, but what I am wanting to tell you is that the promises of God are true and you have no need to fear regarding provision!
The promises of God are faithful and they far outweigh any reasons to fear. If you look at what God promises you, you have absolutely no reason to fear. Fear is a choice! Choose to let go of all fear and choose to step into faith. It doesn’t happen automatically but as you trust God, you will walk in perfect peace. If you’re not going to trust God, you’re never going to have any peace. You’re going to be hoping and wishing and praying while you’re pushing through the storm, trying to get to the other side. But you don’t have to. Jesus said to “look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns. And yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” I pray that you see this! Jesus is saying that the birds have a Creator who cares for them, but this Creator is your Father. You are much more valuable to your Father than all the birds in creation! Jesus didn’t die for birds, He dies for you. You are so valuable to God; if He looks after the birds then He will look after you! Jesus is trying to show us that provision and care from God is because of our identity as children of God, because of our position in the family, not because of our performance or actions. What “performance or actions”, you ask? He said that they “don’t sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.” Provision isn’t based on how much have you been sowing or saving; provision is based on family. This will probably shock some of you: even if you are not sowing in terms of giving finances and even if you don’t have a savings account full of savings, your heavenly father wants to look after you.
Giving generosity into the Kingdom is very important. I’m not against giving (I am a giver!) and I’m not against savings. What I want you to see is that provision in your life isn’t based on what you and your actions of giving and saving. I was sitting with this guy once. He’s a great guy and I love him very much. He is passionate about Jesus and the Kingdom, but I picked up a legalistic bone in him as we were chatting over lunch. He’s a businessman and he was talking about how blessed he was and he credited all the blessing in his life to the fact that he was a tither and a giver. “If people would just realize that they can be blessed like me by doing what I’ve done then they would be blessed… I’m blessed because I’m a tither!” As I heard those words come out of his mouth, I was shocked because there was no mention of Jesus. There was no giving of glory to God for the blessing in his life; it was all glory to him because of his giving. It was all about him and his giving. That’s wrong. We aren’t blessed because we give, we give because we are blessed. Many people live in a place of fear of provision thinking that God will not provide for them because they haven’t been giving. “How can I expect God to look after me and to provide if I haven’t been a giver?” That is a performance-based mentality and has nothing to do with the good news, gospel. It is not a Jesus-focused mentality. God doesn’t provide for you because you paid your hush money to Him this month! He’s not the godfather; He’s God the Father, and He looks after you and cares for you because you’re His child. Hallelujah!
Provision is not based on your performance of tithing and sowing. All you need to do to experience that provision is believe; put faith in His goodness. Your faith receives His blessing. Your faith activates the flow of His power in your life. Yes, faith without works is dead, and yes, for some people giving is an act of faith that helps us to receive, but our giving never convinces God to bless us or provide because He is a good Father who has already blessed us with all blessing (Ephesians 1:3) and given us everything we could need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). We are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8) The word “saved” is Soteria in the Greek which means delivered, prospered and made whole – this is what salvation includes! We are saved by grace (the gift of God) through faith (believing in Him). We are delivered and live free by grace through faith. We are healed physically and emotionally by grace through faith. We are prospered by grace through faith. It’s His power. It’s His ability. We activate it by believing. Your faith activates the provision and prosperity of God in your life. (And when I say “prosperity” I am talking about having more than enough to be a blessing on every occasion). Your giving doesn’t produce the blessing of God and it doesn’t attract it either – giving can help you to activate your faith and receive what already belongs to you, but primarily, we give because we are blessed not to try and be blessed.
Your lack of giving may reveal where your faith has been but it doesn’t disqualify you from experiencing a financial miracle and seeing your Father’s provision flow in your life! God is your father and He’s a good father who wants you to experience His goodness. He never wants you to suffer. He wants to provide for you. All you need to do is trust in Him.