This is a post that I am particularly excited to write…
A little over a month ago, I wrote about a young couple we know who gave us (sowed) $1000 in obedience to what they felt God was leading them to do. In that article I wrote about how excited we were for them, because we know what the Bible says about sowing and reaping…
“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” 2 Corinthians 9:6
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” Galatians 6:7
“While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest … shall not cease.” Genesis 8:22
Witnessing the harvest
I’ve noticed in my life that I don’t always have the luxury of seeing both the sowing and the reaping. Every time we sow, it is in faith – I believe what the Bible says about it whether I immediately see the fruit or don’t see it for 20 years. My job is just to give and trust that God will do what He promised.
Rejoicing with the sowers
This last weekend, the husband stopped me and brimming with excitement he told me that they just received a completely unexpected $6000!
I wanted to write about this just to brag on God a little bit. I get so excited seeing people step out in Faith like this couple did, because I consistently see God do awesome things like this. I’ve watched it happen in my life and have witnessed it in the lives of so many others as well. God is faithful.
Giving with the right attitude
Just to clarify for those new to this whole “sowing and reaping” thing – it isn’t a turn-key system where we are taking advantage of God. Giving should be done with right motives – to please and honor God.
But, God did set this system up so that there are rewards for our obedience. One of the benefits is that we have is that when we give, more is given back to us…
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38
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That’s great to hear about that couple!
I remember the comments on that other article, and I now feel the need to clarify some things. First, there is no such thing as extravagant giving in the eyes of God. The amounts, time, figures, they don’t mean one little thing. So please don’t get hung up on that.
Secondly, use caution here. It’s not a $1000 in, $6000 out kind of thing. There might not be any reward as far as we are concerned, and we should have faith that whatever is ‘poured out’ to us, is in God’s will, and not our own. You see, God’s way is never our way, and our way is very seldom God’s way. Don’t be surprised is something great happens, but don’t be surprised if it doesn’t either; and certainly don’t expect anything. God has given everything for us, why do you expect more?
Don’t get all wrapped up about ‘signs.’ Sometimes there aren’t any, and sometimes we don’t see them when there are.
Infinion,
1. I think I am in agreement with you on this point. My title might have caused some confusion. The dollar amount doesn’t matter – obeying God does -whatever the amount is. What was extravagant about their giving was the step of faith that they took.
2. I agree that we shouldn’t get caught up in looking for the signs… From my experience most of the times I step out in faith, I don’t see the other side of it. But, I also think it is pretty cool when you do get to see something like this happen – when you can watch someone sow the seed and witness them reap the harvest.
Hey Bob,
Just wanted to make sure you knew my comments were directed at anyone. Love your posts.
I’d say ‘signs’, blessings, or whatever else, a a like icebergs. We probably only see 10% of what happens on the other side.
Also, with signs, I get a little unsettled when people talk about looking for signs so much. I get a lot of ‘how do you know’ or ‘I just need a sign’, or ‘I’ll know when God shows me.’ I just don’t think that’s the things work, hence, faith is required; that’s sort of what it’s about.
That said, I agree that it is so great to actually get to see something on occasion. Sometimes, we need a little motivation. If we look around carefully and with open minds, we’ll get all the motivation we could ever need.
Thank you for sharing. It is nice that they had a monetary reward for their faithfulness. I have found that in giving, that the money or the time is not lost and the gain is like compounding interest. We find ways to be more frugal, cut out worldly desires, and focus on what is important. The money is still not missed and we seem to thrive without it.
It’s worth pointing out that giving isn’t all about money either. You can give time, effort, non-monetary items, shelter to someone in your home, provide food/meals, etc. Building up another believer who is wavering in his faith or going through a particularly bad time is a way of giving also.
The point is, none of us has an excuse to not give, even if we don’t have money. God can use all that we can provide if we’re willing to let it go.
Infinion)–”We probably only see 10% of what happens on the other side.”–I completely agree with this statement. As Bob pointed out, this is where we need to step out in faith and not worry about how it plays out or if it benefits us in some tangible way, ie, coming back to us. If often comes back in non-financial ways.
Personally, I think we’re being blessed all the time, but 90% of the time we don’t percieve it, or at least we don’t percieve it as the blessing it is.
@Kevin
Of course! I’d submit that we, as humans, are pretty poor at recognizing blessings. After all God has given us, we always want more, and when we can’t see it, we complain. But I also believe that we are always blessed, 100% as you say, I agree.
I listen to this radio station (a national broadcast Christian station), and I get a kick out of all these people that call in and say what has happened to them (which is great), but they say that God will provide everything you WANT, if you just ask; and that He will bless you will so much that you’ll never WANT anything more. On the same note, that God didn’t bless such and such circumstance because you just didn’t pray hard enough, or just didn’t have enough faith. Oh no, so not true, and in no way is that biblical. It’s true that we are blessed, but not with what we want (sure, maybe on occasion). And again, God’s way, is not our way. Who am I to think I should understand my Creator’s plan for me?
I get the same feeling out of the turnkey give and receive thing. It’s just not true. God has already done his giving, so where is ours? And who are we to say what we will or will not do with HIS money (or time, talents, food, etc, which is a good point Jason).
Great discussion, stimulating my mind today; thanks!
It’s great to hear well-balanced perspectives on giving! One more passage I’d like to point out is Luke 11:5-13, which tells the story of the persistent friend asking for bread. In verse 13 it sums up with: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” (NASB).
God does bless us with all kinds of gifts (though financial prosperity is not promised), but the best gift of all is the Holy Spirit!
Hey Guys!
I like reading these posts. You can classify me largely as an agnostic, though I want to develop some christian virtues. Personally since I feel that there is a 98% chance that God does not exist(though I pray sometimes when I am in some form of crisis), I just find this sowing and reaping thing very strange.
Well personally I feel it is our duty to give irrespective of the bible or GOD. I feel we as human beings must be ashamed of ourselves. With all our technological advancements it is really a sad truth that 1 billion live at a dollar a day and another 2 billion at $2 a day. I hence feel it is a duty that if we belong to the brother hood of man, we must give to eradicate such social evils, not because God or the bible says so it must be based on this notion of human empathy.
Do n’t you guys agree that we must be ashamed that with all our progress, still so many children starve to death and they do not get to enjoy the fruits of humanity’s innovation.
I personally feel very ashamed of that and I feel I definitely should do the best in my power to try to do something about it.
In short I feel the notion that in spite of all the progress (by us humans) , still many people are so unfortunate alone is enough motivating factor to give and not becoz the promise of reaping what we sow.
Just wanted to get this point across from an agnostic perspective. Please feel free to comment on my views. I respect all of your discussions and I like the conversations!
Regards,
Anonymous
Agnostic–With all due respect to your non-belief, what you’ve just described in the human condition is a picture perfect example of the falleness of Man. No matter how much technology, wealth or information we accumulate, the human condition remains what it has been for 1000s of years. 2000 years ago, Jesus said/prophesied, “The poor you will always have with you”. (How could he have known that if he were just a prophet or a wise teacher???)
Note that animals don’t live that way; left to themselves, there’s a balance to their existence. Only man can engineer “progress” and corosion simultaneously. Why is self-destruction wired into us even as we profess a deep desire to move forward?
And yet inspite of our falleness, we have an inate desire to give back. Animals don’t have this ability. How is it that we know to strive for what’s right, yet we’re bound to do wrong?
I’ve read the answer to this in the Bible over and over, but have yet to find anything in science or philosophy that comes close.
We won’t “fix” the world no matter our best efforts or even our best intentions. It isn’t meant to happen. That doesn’t mean we give up, but it does mean that we do our best and trust God for the outcome.
BTW, surveys indicate that Christians are more generous givers than non-believers by a wide margin. Perhaps it’s because we accept the biblical directive to give more freely than the secular world does because we accept the reason why we feel compelled to do it. God speaks to the entire world, hence people are capable of doing good things, but to the believer who listens willingly, generosity and service come more easily.
I hope this clarifies one or two things…
@ Ben,
‘well-balanced’. I think that’s important here, and one reason why I like this site so much. If you’ve ever watched (some) of those TV evangelicals, you’ll see what I mean. “Give us $200, pray and believe, and God will… (cancel all your debt) (give you a beautiful new car) (start a business for you) (make you a millionaire).” God can bless us with those things, and its obvious to me that does happen sometimes. Oh, but some people just have it so, so wrong. That’s just not what it’s about, not at all.
@ Agnostic,
Since you’re on a Christian-oriented site, you should expect someone to say something like the following, please don’t let it offend you. You seem quite intelligent, and so must understand that Christians are called to spread the Gospel and love those that we encounter (including you!) I’m so glad that God has brought you here, and I hope you’ll continue to monitor our discussions on various topics. I’ll caution you, because I once believed as you do about God. That other 2% of you believes that God *might* be real. The other 98% of you just can’t make sense of any of this rambling on about scripture, the Holy Spirit, how God had a Son (and he died for me???), how God lets bad things happen to good people, and so on. If that 2% believes that God is your creator, just think about that for a while. Do you really think you are meant to understand your Creator? I don’t think so. Don’t get hung up on what you don’t understand, focus on what you do understand. And frankly, we all understand so little about God, that at times I think it’s absurd to even discuss some of the things we do. But since God created you, he gave you the ability to have a relationship with him. That’s what’s really important; the rest, all just fluff, and don’t worry about it. I’m not going to try to persuade you, that’s not my responsibility; so thanks for listening to y rambling.
I hope you’ll continue share your views here.
This is a wonderful testimony on God’s work, very encouraging for myself and I’m sure others that read this as well.
My pastor, Carl Turner from http://www.theway.ws, is now a millionaire but many years ago use to work at Mcdonalds flipping burgers married with children, but truly believed in God’s goodness. So, he always claimed he gave his way out of poverty, meaning he tithed and bless others without thinking twice b/c it came from the heart even though he really didn’t have them money himself.
Also, please visit this article on how a Christian should give: http://theprospermagazine.com/2009/06/how-should-a-christian-give/ – the writer made some points you may or may not agree with. Post your thoughts please.
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