Trust God’s Economic Recovery Plan

We have heard plenty about economic recovery plans over the past couple of years.  Politicians will blame the other guy.  When finances shrink people start looking for someone to blame—and there’s plenty of that to go around.  Then come the hopeful solutions to the problem such as child tax credits, unemployment benefits, small business loans and grants, and so on. The whole point of these economic plans is to rebuild an economy that had crashed and to help people who have been hit hard financially to get back on their feet.  Maybe you have benefited from some of these actions.

God has an economic recovery plan too. His isn’t necessarily to rebuild the global economy, to keep the stock market strong, or even to give people financial stability.  While we are thankful for these physical blessings, the Lord has a much greater economic recovery in mind. He looks to build a spiritual economy and to rescue, restore, and rebuild us who were spiritually poor, lost, fallen, struggling and challenged in our life of faith.  Then God may very well create Meaningful Ministry through us to Meet the Needs of others. So today St. Paul reminds us to

Trust God’s Economic Recovery Plan

Richly Providing Physical Needs

Imagine that you witnessed ten amazing acts of God, one right after another, from a river turning from water to blood, to massive and destructive infestations of various pests, to three days of utter darkness, and finally, to the death of every firstborn son that caused a national leader to fall to his knees and beg for you, people who were his slaves, begs for you to leave. Don’t you feel like you would never forget just how powerful God is? Yet after only a month into their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, the people of Israel started to grumble, complaining that their economy was horrible since they had nothing to eat and would have been better off in Egypt. Really?? Did they forget what God did?  Once again the Lord God had every right to respond with anger.  However, the Savior God responds by graciously providing them with food, bread in the morning and meat in the evening.  They got what they needed.  But this was more than just feeding the people. The Lord told Moses that he provided for them for this reason, 

“At evening you will eat meat, and in the morning you will eat bread until you are full. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God”

Exodus 16:12 

The Lord God had made a promise to send the Savior and he was going to see to it that the Savior would come from his people as he graciously said.

“For you are a people that is holy to the Lord your God, because the Lord your God has chosen you to belong to him as a people that is his treasured possession, chosen from all the peoples that are on the face of the earth”

Deuteronomy 7:6

Fast forward about 1,500 years. Jesus was preaching to a large crowd in a remote place with no Metro Markets or Chick-fil-A anywhere near them. It was late in the day and the people were hungry. The disciples realized this and asked Jesus what to do. They searched out for food and found five small loaves of bread and two fish, a meager meal.  Jesus took that food, gave thanks, and the food miraculously multiplied enough to feed thousands.  And what was the reaction of the people?  Of course they were so happy to have received this meal and they ran after Jesus.  But, they were chasing him down for the wrong reason. Jesus said to them,

“You are not looking for me because you saw the miraculous signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. ²⁷ Do not continue to work for the food that spoils, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you”

John 6:26-27

So, you see, the miracle of mana and the miracle of feeding the 5,000 wasn’t so much about feeding people, but rather through these miracles God was showing who he truly is.  Our God is always able to Richly Provide for the Physical Needs through his Economic Recovery Plan!  God was teaching them to Trust In His Economic Recovery Plan as their Lord and Savior.

With those examples in your mind, let’s turn to 2 Corinthians 9. The Apostle Paul wrote to the congregation in Corinth and was encouraging them to continue to gather the special offering for the poor and persecuted believers in Jerusalem that they had started and committed themselves to. Here’s the basis of that encouragement.  “⁸ God is able to make all grace overflow to you.  This is a truth of God for us.  God has provided for us abundantly.  You know how blessed we are in comparison to the history of people through the ages.  We have homes, A/C, jobs, money, clothes, food that compared to the world is amazing!  (If you make $50 a year you are in the top 65% of the richest people in the USA, and 90% of the world’s richest people). God has Richly Blessed our Physical Needs.  When there is sickness God has provided medicines.  When there are storms or disasters, God has provided relief.  When the Children of Israel were in the desert, God provided mana.  When the people were in the wilderness listening to Jesus, he provided fish and bread.  All through the ages God had Richly Blessed Physical Needs.

How good are you at remembering that truth? Too often we forget. You can be like the people of Israel who so quickly forget the power of God and ability to provide and so we complain to God when we don’t feel like we have enough or the same as someone else.  When we don’t get the answer to our prayers in that the way we would like we are tempted to grumble against God.  When we are swayed by the world to think you don’t need the Lord, we are tempted to give the Lord a low priority.  Don’t let the devil tempt you to be like the crowds who only look to Jesus as a drive-through at McDonalds—order up a prayer and get what they want from him in the next moment.  Yes, there are moments in our life when we really are materially poor and there are other times when we just feel like we don’t have enough.  In those moments we are tempted to think that God doesn’t provide, doesn’t care, isn’t able to provide or isn’t blessing us abundantly.  God save us from falling into this temptation!  Rather may we always Trust God’s Economic Recovery Plan to Richly Provide for all our Physical Needs.  For God has a greater purpose in mind for us.  God is at work

Richly Providing for Our Eternal Needs

To understand how richly God blesses you, let me share my translation that captures the original language a bit better. “God is able to make all grace abound (overflow – like a flower bud opening up) to you.” See, God does more than just promise to bless you abundantly, he promises to make his grace abound to you. So, know what grace is. Grace is God’s undeserved love. Grace is what you show to someone who was a jerk to you. To someone who doesn’t deserve the time of day. Grace is what God shows to you, the undeserving, unappreciative, disobedient sinner that you are. Grace is God sending his son, Jesus Christ, to be more than a bread-maker, but a life-saver. Grace is Jesus living in your place and dying in your place to pay the price that you can’t afford to stand right with God. Grace is God saying to you that you are forgiven for the sake of Jesus. Grace is God’s Economic Recovery Plan. God delights to abundantly pour his grace into your life Richly Providing for Our Eternal Needs.

With this grace of God, you are supplied with all that you need for this life and the life to come.  God has a great purpose in providing for you.

“⁸ God is able to make all grace overflow to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will overflow in every good work.” 

The abundance of God’s grace in your life overflows into what you do and how you live each day. God also blesses you so that you can be generous to others.

Here is a little story to make the point.  There was a little boy who had the closest guess of how many pieces of candy were in a big jar. The prize for the closest guess was the jar of candy itself.  This huge jar of candy was like winning the jackpot for the kid. But you know what he did? He opened the jar and offered up its contents to the kids around him. He generously shared his winnings and his joy of winning with the other kids.

When you stop and remember how richly God daily provides for you physically with all your needs, and spiritually with forgiveness and eternal life, it changes your heart.  God’s grace is like that jar of candy that you so enjoy and that you want others to enjoy with you. God illustrates that idea in this way.

“¹⁰ And he who provides seed to the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your seed for sowing, and will increase the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹ You will be made rich in every way so that you may be generous in every way, which produces thanksgiving to God through us.”

God supplies you with what is needed so that you can be generous and a spiritual blessing to others in all things at all times.

I know, you may often feel like you don’t have anything to offer, but that’s just Satan whispering in your ear to create doubts and keep you from being a blessing to others.  That’s the time to remember God made promises!  He promised to supply all our needs physically and spiritually.  Oh no!  Promises are words and that require faith!  Faith means leaning on something.  Are you ready to have God test your faith to see if you’re going to lean on his promise? Paul said,

“¹¹ You will be made rich in every way so that you may be generous in every way,”

Oh no!  Can I be generous?!! That’s the issue!  Here’s an example.  I have money in the bank and I have a debit card.  I have a budget that recognizes God’s blessings and how I can manage those blessings.  I love using this example. 

Let’s say I have 10 pennies. From my perspective would it be generous for me to give 1 penny to someone in need? How about from God’s perspective?  How about from the recipient’s perspective?  I have 10 dimes.  Would it be generous for me to give 1 dime to someone in need?  I have $100 dollars, I have $1000 dollars, etc….  Would it be generous to give $100 to someone in need?  Do you get it?  God has provided for each of us generously from his perspective, your gifts to others reflect how generous your heart is.  Yes, your giving says something.  I hope and pray it says that you Trust God’s Economic Plan to Richly Provide for you Physically and Eternally.

Certainly you noticed these words, “You will be made rich in every way.”  That goes way beyond our finances.  Perhaps God has blessed you with the ability to talk to others or making new friends.  Will you share a penny of God’s Word with them? A quarter, a dollar, $10, $100, $1000.  How rich has God blessed you with the gifts of talking?  Your gifts to others reflect the level of generosity in your heart.  Maybe you have been richly blessed to listen.  Generously share that gift.  Maybe your gift is patience, encouragement, hospitality, etc.  Trust God’s Economic Plan for all your gifts to his glory!  When you use the blessings that God has given to you in this way, another blessing will result.  “You will be made rich in every way so that you may be generous in every way, which produces thanksgiving to God through us.”  Showing your trust in God to provide you physically and eternally as you generously share your gifts with others results in much thanksgiving to the Lord!  Dear Christian friends, thank God today for his gifts through you?  That’s Meaningful Ministry.

There are so many economic plans in politics, sports, and today we learned about God’s Gracious Economic Plan for his people.  God’s plan truly works, truly lasts, is truly for all people.  May we all Trust God’s Economic Recovery Plan that results in Meaningful Ministry as we God Richly Provides for our Physical and Eternal Needs to benefit others.  Amen.