There’s a hole in my bucket! Do you feel like no matter how much money you make there is just never enough to cover your needs? With gas at $4.00 a gallon and the prices of everything else up as well, how are we supposed to make ends meet? All around the world people are making tough decisions based on the state of their financial situation. But there is a secret that you need to know. It is the principle of seed-time and harvest. Do you find yourself saying these awful words, “I’m broke!” ? There is a secret that you need to know that is guaranteed to solve your financial problems (and your heart issues too, if you’ll allow God to transform you!)
I am going to tell you something personal, but I am going to do so only because I sense that God is asking me to testify so that you will have the courage to trust him as well. Lance and I have been tithing since we were married. It was not easy for me at all. I regularly tried to convince Lance that we could have this or that if we just gave away less of OUR money. Well… there was the root of the problem right there, it was not OUR money, it was God’s. Tithing really has very little to do with money and a lot to do with our heart. The Lord is asking us to trust him by giving back the first 10% of our income to him. He then blesses the remaining 90 percent and somehow manages to make that 90% go much further than the original 100% could stretch.
Each time we trust him and give him the tithe, he plugs up the hole in our bucket. As we learn to trust him with our money, he teaches us to live with an open hand. Just as the parable of the talents tells us, he gives more to those whom he can trust to use the resources as he commands. What we have found is that the more we give, the more he entrusts to us and so then we are able to give even more. No matter what we do, we cannot seem to “out give” God.
I want you to imagine that you are hungry and your kids are hungry and you discover that all you have is an ear of corn. The unfaithful will eat the ear of corn and then prepare to die or hope that they will again find something else to eat. But the faithful eat some of the corn, but in faith, they plant a portion of the corn. It takes faith to plant the seed and cover it over. It takes patience to wait to see what God will do with that seed, but eventually, the harvest comes. Because of your faith, you now have a harvest of corn and can not only feed yourself and your family, but you can also help others. It is the basic seed-time and harvest principle.
Some ask why they Lord is not blessing them financially. No matter what the power of God’s multiplication factor, a big number times nothing is still nothing. The first 10% is God’s money. He uses that 10% to redeem the other 90%. He uses that 10% to plug up the hole in your bucket so that you will have enough to meet your needs. The supernatural multiplication of your seed does not begin until you actually plant seed. The tithe is not the seed. It belongs to God. When we start to trust him and give over and above the tithe then it is called offering. It is the offerings that we plant, above and beyond the tithe, that go into the harvest equation. If you are already tithing and you have a need, but what is in your hand will not meet that need, then it is your seed. Plant it! While you wait for God’s timing, praise him and thank him!
The Lord has continued to bless our finances and we continue to trust him by giving more and more as he directs. He has such cool ways of supernaturally multiplying our funds. A brand new tuxedo purchased for $50.00 instead of renting for $125, a mortgage rate reduced to save thousands of dollars, a stove on sale for 50% off that is exactly the right thing, a bonus that replaces a salary lost. I could go on and on and on. If you have been trying to get closer to God, but can’t figure out how to do it. Do a little spiritual inventory by looking to see where your money is going. We invest in things that we value. Are you ready for a change? Start trusting him. Experience love and blessing like never before by living a life of radical obedience, generosity and faith. It’s a heart issue. So give him your heart and your checkbook and get ready for him to transform both!
