Who is Your Source? – Offense, Part 12

When I was ripped off in a ministry trip, long ago, I was ready to go after the guy. I wanted to hurt him back. He seemed comfortably well-off, but he left me needing to borrow on a credit card to get by. I heard the Lord say, “Let it go.” So, I got mad at the Lord. I said, “I’m borrowing on my credit card and you’re telling me to let it go.” The Lord, however, doesn’t play fair. He took me back to that trust issue we had been working on. He said, “Is your trust in these meetings? Is it in what you can sell? Or, am I your source?” I was really struggling to let it go. Then, I found out that he was having financial difficulties and his ministry was really over-extended. They were facing foreclosure. If he had only said to me when I left, “We have had some financial trouble since I booked this meeting with you. Here’s your material money, but I can’t give you an honorarium.” I know I would have said, “Hey, don’t worry about it.” I would have even said, “Let me sow into you and help you.” I might have even given him the material money. It didn’t happen that way, though, so I was stewing. The Lord, said, “He’s your brother and he’s in trouble. You ought to be praying for him.” As I did, I realized he was probably embarrassed and didn’t know what to say. Several months later, he actually did send me the money. God didn’t let him send the money, though, until I got my heart right. I had forgiven him, released him, and looked to God as my source. I have lived that way ever since. It didn’t matter if he had done the right thing. I had to do the right thing. I had to wrestle for days over it, until I had it solidly in my heart Who my Source really was.

“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” (Matthew 6:14; NIV)

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:26; NIV)

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33; NIV)

Give Him 15 minutes in prayer:

• Is your trust in what you can do or what you can generate?
• Is your trust in others and what they can provide you with?
• Do you have credit card bills that have come from others not keeping their promises to you? 
• Do you believe He knows your need and is taking care of you, regardless of how big your need is?
• Do you know He can move on someone’s heart and have a check in the mail to you in a heartbeat? He won’t do it, though, until He deals with your heart first. Welcome Him to do so. Wrestle it out with Him. Let it hurt.

A prayer you can pray:

Father, check my heart. Where do I really believe that my source of abundance and blessing lies? Lay my heart bare and show me if I am trusting in You to meet my needs or if I am still looking to others. Help me to release other people from my expectations of them to provide for me. It’s not fair of me to put that pressure on them. I release the one that may not have met their promises to me, causing me to even go into debt to cover my basic needs. Why am I seething at them, when you can provide that in a moment. You can speak to someone entirely different to meet that need. You can cause a great blessing to come my way. You can open a new door of provision. You can give me a testimony of Your goodness to me and my family. Forgive my limited view of You. Wow, Lord! How short-sighted I have been. I will shout in advance, “To God be the glory! Great things He has done!” I pray for that one that has withheld from me or harmed me financially in some way. Lord, meet their needs. Give them a testimony of Your goodness to them. Let us rejoice together in the love of Jesus! Amen.

Today’s decree:

God alone is our source. He will bless His people as we trust fully in Him!