Can God trust you with finances?

Over the weekend my pastor preached a great message about how God used Gideon, a man of small beginnings, to accomplish great things for his nation and for the Lord. To summarize, Gideon was picked by God to lead his nation to victory over an enemy who had occupied their land for years. But God wanted to make sure that the entire nation knew it was God who had caused the victory, so instead of letting Gideon go into battle with his original army of over 30,000 men, he reduced their ranks to a mere 300 men. They ended up being victorious over an army in the hundreds of thousands as a result of following the Lord’s direction, and you can read the entire account in Judges 6-8.

You are probably wondering what this story has to do your finances. Good question! As I listened to the message I was drawn to the similarities between Gideon’s view of how victory would be achieved, and how people view God in their giving. I’ve heard so many people say that they would gladly give to the Lord if he would bless their finances or if they were wealthier. It’s an attitude of “I’ll trust you God as soon as you bless me and give me a million dollars!” But God knows our hearts and motives better than we do. He’s not going to set us up for a big fall that will turn our focus off of Him.

When Gideon had gathered his original 30,000 men, God saw it and said that it was too many! He knew that a victory with more than 300 men would cause Gideon’s nation to take the credit for the victory instead of giving the credit back to the Lord. The same is true with God. He is not going to give us more than we can handle. God is not going to give a person who is making $40,000 per year and still learning how to be a consistent giver at that level a million dollars overnight. That person wouldn’t know how to handle the dramatic increase in income and would probably destroy themself trying. God gives according to our consistency and faithfulness with what He has already given us. The more He can trust us with what we have, the more He is willing to give us more in return.

If you find yourself wanting and believing for more finances, spend a few minutes to make sure you are being completely faithful with what God has already given you. Ask yourself a simple question, “Can God trust me with finances?”