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Robbing God
Malachi
Fear is a funny thing because at times our fear and worry can actually prevent us from doing the very thing needed to be free of our fear. I have a fear of heights… yet I routinely find myself in situations where I think I will be okay only to find myself paralyzed by my fear. My first instinct in those situations is to grab on and never let go… However, I cannot come down unless I let go. Do you see the irony here? At some point, I have to let go in order to arrive at a solution to my fear. In many cases what fear boils down to is control and trust. Our natural instinct when we are afraid is not to give up control but to take more control.
In Malachi 3, God confronts his people for withholding their tithe from Him. Which they were. The law stated that the people give 10% of what they had to God, and the people of Israel had stopped doing that. What I find interesting in this passage is what God says to them in verses 9 and 10. He doesn’t just correct them and tell them to give because he said so. “You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”
God tells the people that they are not following what they should be and because of that they were actually missing out on the fullness of God's provision and blessing. God actually instructs His people to test him in this. Not like a literal test but God was saying give to me what is required of you and you will find that I am faithful.
Life is full of uncertainties right now. Uncertainty tends to breed fear, and fear tends to cause us to hold onto what we have even tighter. There is a natural temptation when we are faced with uncertainty to try and hold onto things as if they were ours. The thing is they were never ours to begin with. Everything we have comes from God and he is gracious enough to allow us to manage those things. That does not mean we get to decide what we do with it as if it belonged to us. But instead allow God to direct how we use what he has given to us. I don’t believe this passage is only about money. It’s about our hearts and our willingness to allow God to decide the direction of the things he has entrusted to us. God has entrusted us to manage not only the finances he has provided, but our time here on earth (our lives), His Church, our families and so many other things. In this time of uncertainty the temptation is for us to view these things as our own and to hold on tighter to them because everything else is uncertain so we want one thing that will not change! However, we need to remember that they were never ours to begin with. They belong to God, and we need to allow him to direct what we do with these things and manage them in obedience to his will. When we do that God promises to provide and we may find that the what God provides because of our obedience may be the very thing we need to move past our fear.
I want to leave you with two verses that I feel accompany God’s promise in Malachi 10.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] Proverbs 3:9-10 Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.
Matthew 6:33 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Whatever your holding onto in this season I want to encourage you to open your hands and ask God what he wants you to do with it. [/perfectpullquote]
-Adam Deering
