Don’t Do the Math.

I hated math all through school.  I remember pounding through assignments day after day.  Being a perfectionist, I always had to first do the problems, and then go back and check them again.  I wasn’t bad at math, I just didn’t like it.  To all of you who for whatever reason are looking for a reason NOT to do the math, there is one area where I give you permission to NOT do the math.

 
I love doing the numbers when it comes to money.  I have a budget with amounts that I can spend during the month.  I clip coupons, and rarely eat at a restaurant without a discount.  There is one area in life where I no longer do the math.  When it comes to the spiritual discipline of giving, I don’t do the math.  Giving is not an option for the obedient follower of Christ.  God clearly calls us to not only give to the local work of the kingdom, but also to the poor.  In the OT, it was customary for God’s people to offer a tithe (often considered to be 10%) back to God.  So for every ten dollars that God give me, I am required to give a minimum of one back to Him.  When I do the math, I am left with nine.  Nine is less than ten.

I know that times are tough, especially when you are just starting out life as an adult.  You want to get ahead, but are too busy with being behind.  It seems as if the only way to catch a break is to keep all that you have for yourself.  We have all heard that voice in the back of our mind saying, “Wouldn’t God want you to help yourself get ahead?”  Unfortunately, it isn’t God’s voice, but that voice belongs to another.

 
Looking at the math, I am losing.  Looking at the math, I have less.  Looking at the math, I am discouraged, but I must remember.

 
God’s system is different than man’s system.  God’s economy runs on different principles than our world.  God’s system does not make sense, and often flies in the face of conventional wisdom.  Isaiah 55:8-9 says that “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.  As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

 
One thing that I did like about math is there was one clear answer to each question.  Two plus two always equals four.  It was reliable and totally predictable.  However, in God’s system, it is the Lord who gives, and it is the Lord who takes away.  We do not live in a world bound by financial principles or known outcomes.  We live in a supernatural world where God reigns.  This world teaches us the old saying, “Get all you can.  Can all you get.  Then sit on the can.”  We can grab and cling to every dollar possible, but no matter how tight we clinch we cannot make our money go farther than God’s provision for us.  God is able to provide for us entirely on what is left.

God’s system is based on faith.   America today is obsessed with saving for the future.  We don’t have faith in our government, family or other organizations to care for us when we are old.  We must depend on our retirement accounts.  The recent drop in America’s retirement accounts have Christians and non-Christians stressing over the future.  As a Christian, I should not worry about the future, but  I am called to live by faith.  As the economy recovers, I have not noticed God’s people changing their spending habits, or the object of their faith.  Our future is not in the hands of the stock market, but in the Lord.   I want my financial decisions to be based on obeying the voice and call of God in my life.  When feeling moved by the Spirit to give to someone in need, I do not want to be hindered by the math.  This will take true faith which is often a difficult road.

God’s system is based on stewardship, not performance.  We are in a performance driven world.  The bottom-line is that you must take what you are given and turn it into more, whether we are talking about financial, physical, or whatever we are made stewards of.  In Matthew 25:14-30, the master rewards both servants who were good stewards of the money that was entrusted to them.    They receive the words that I long to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”  The only servant who was reprimanded was the servant who did nothing.  In a world which values the best, and those who come in first, we must remember that God doesn’t care about first, greatest, or the numbers.  God cares about our faithfulness.

So, I encourage you each to stop doing the math.  Rather walk in faith and obedience to God knowing that He will provide for you.

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