Time and time again a reading in The Word for Today provides us a really good reminder of how fundraising for our ministry is actually in God’s hands.
We can often worry that it is all up to us to get people to donate and if they don’t we take it as a bit of a ‘failure’ on our part. But in reality we can just relax and leave it to God to work on the heart of His people. Yes we need to ask/invite people to become partners in mission, but I encourage you to remember that God is also at work.
So I encourage you to continue your good work of freely giving away your copies of The Word for Today and asking, but not requiring, a donation. But, having done your work, don’t be afraid to leave it up to God. I truly believe that the fruit of this generosity is that in time UCB’s ministry will receive a harvest of generosity.
Why am I so confident? Only because that is exactly what we have seen God do in the past.
From
Bob Gass and The Word for Today…
We Serve A Generous God
‘That you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.’ 2 Corinthians 9:8
God doesn’t just love; He lavishes love on us (see 1 John 3:1 NIV). He doesn’t dole out wisdom; He ‘gives generously to all without finding fault.’ (James 1:5 NIV). The Prodigal Son got the fatted calf, the guests at the wedding in Cana got the best wine, and Peter caught so many fish that his boat started to sink.
Paul tells us God ‘supplies seed to the sower’ (2 Corinthians 9:10 NKJV), and the Greek word for ‘supplies’ comes from two roots. The first means ‘to dance’, and the second means ‘to lead’. It literally means ‘to lead a dance’. So when God gives to you, He dances for joy. He strikes up the band and leads the giving parade. He loves to give!
One day Peter said to Jesus, ‘We have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?’ (Matthew 19:27 NKJV) Seems like a good opportunity for Jesus to chastise Peter’s ‘what’s in it for me?’ mentality. But He didn’t. Instead, He assured Peter that we shall receive a hundredfold in this life and inherit eternal life too (see Matthew 19:29). Jesus promises a gain of 10,000%!
If someone gave you a $100 today for every $1:00 you gave them yesterday, you might call that person ‘God-generous’. God dispenses His goodness not with an eyedropper, but with a fire hydrant; not with a teacup, but with the Pacific Ocean. You simply can’t contain it. So let it bubble over. Spill out. Pour forth. ‘Freely you have received; freely give.’ (Matthew 10:8 NIV)