How God Tests Me and Then Blesses Me

In Luke 16:11-13 it says, “If you cannot be trusted with this wicked wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? And if you cannot be trusted with what belongs to someone else, who will give you something that will be your own? You cannot be the slave of two masters. You will like one more than the other or be more loyal to one than to the other. You cannot serve God and money.” (CEV)

Faithful people are generous, even when they don’t have anything to give.

Anybody can be generous when they have a surplus. You can be generous with your time when you’ve got a lot of extra time. You can be generous with your money when you’ve got a lot of extra money. You can be generous with your energy when you’ve got extra energy to spend. It’s when you don’t have enough time for yourself, you don’t have enough energy for yourself, you don’t have enough money for yourself, you don’t have enough talent for yourself that God says, “This is a test. I’m watching you to see if you are generous. Will you be faithful, and will you trust me?”

Here are five principles in which God will test us and then bless us:

1. God gives to generous people.

God wants you to be generous, because he wants you to be like him. And obeying him will bring his blessing.

2. Obeying God’s vision will bring God’s provision.

If you do what God tells you to do, then God will bring along the resources you need at the right time. What he’s given you the vision for he will give you the provision for.

3. When you do all that God tells you to do, he does what you can’t do.

God often asks you to do the impossible to stretch your faith. When you give what little you have, God multiples it and makes up for it.

4. When you have a need, you sow a seed.

Whatever you need in your life, sow that as a seed, and it will come back to you.

5. There’s always a delay between sowing and reaping.

There is a season between planting and harvesting. What’s going on in the delay? It’s a test of your faith.

So, will I be faithful to give when I have little? Will I keep on doing the right thing? Will I do what God wants me to do, no matter the cost? When I am faithful in this, I will be amazed at how God will provide.

I like to think that I am generous with time, money and my abilities. However, for the most part God has blessed me with abundance, so I don’t think much about shortages. As I consider this, shortages occur more often with my time. When this happens I get frustrated, feel like I’m not doing what I can or annoyed that I don’t want to use what I have. I need to reconsider my mindset when this happens. I need to be open handed and give what God has entrusted me with. There are a lot of people who need to be cared for and brought to God. Some of my part in this is to be there for people who are having financial behavior struggles and difficulties. God has given me talent, time and a desire to help those people. I need to ask God to help me get and be around those individuals and allow me to help and not just wait for them to show up. 

Asking God for Help With Finances

In Philippians 4:19 it says, “You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus.” (MSG)

Philippians 4:19 is an amazing and all-encompassing promise regarding God’s provision: “You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus” (MSG).

Note these two words: “God will.” It doesn’t say, “God might” meet my needs. It says, “God will” meet my needs. It’s written as a fact. God is staking his character and his reputation on it.

The verse continues, “God will take care of everything.” It doesn’t say, “God will take care of some needs.” It says he’s got them all covered.

Now, it doesn’t say, “God will meet all your greed.” There’s a big difference between needs and wants.

As a parent, I didn’t always give our daughter everything she wanted? I didn’t do that because I loved her—and my heavenly Father loves me. He’s not going to give me everything I want because if he did, I’d be spoiled to death—and he knows that some of the things I want wouldn’t be good for me.

He won’t give me everything I want, but he will give me everything I need.

The question might be, “Then why do I still have financial needs?” Did God fail? Did he lie? Did he exaggerate? 

No! With every promise, there is a premise; there are conditions and requirements. When God makes a promise, his expectation is often, “I’ll do my part, and you do your part.” God’s financial principles are clearly laid out for us in his Word. The Bible discusses many aspects of financial health, including principles of saving, spending, giving, investing, and stewardship. God has given me everything I need for financial stability.

I just need to ask for his help as I follow his principles. Jesus says, “Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy” (John 16:24 NLT).

Many people depend more on their credit card than on Jesus Christ. Here’s a good rule: Before you pay for it, pray for it. Give God a chance to provide before I go out and charge it. Ask him for wisdom to make a good financial decision. 

Why does God want me to ask? So he can give. Why does he want to give? So I can receive it.

Why does he want you to receive it? So I’ll be full of joy.

There is great joy in obeying God’s Word regarding your finances. God will take care of me. I Just need to ask him!

In summary, I can trust that God will always meet my needs. Whatever I need on earth he will always supply. I must remember the difference between my wants and my needs. While I want to feel good and avoid discomfort and pain, I may not always get what I want. By trusting in Christ, my attitude and appetite can change from wanting everything to accepting his provision and power to live for him. 

How to Be Like Jesus in Conflict

In Philippians 2:4-5 I read, “Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.” (NLT)

When I meet someone in order to resolve a conflict, I first have to confess my part of the problem. Then I need to listen for the other person’s hurt and perspective.

In every conflict—from personal relationships to politics—we think we argue over ideas. But we actually argue over emotion. Anytime there’s a conflict, someone’s feelings were hurt; somebody felt abused or slighted. It’s not the idea that causes the conflict. It’s the emotion behind the idea.

Hurt people hurt people. The more someone is experiencing hurt, the more likely they are to lash out at everyone else. People who aren’t experiencing hurt don’t hurt others. People who are filled with love are loving toward others. People who are filled with joy are joyful toward others. People who are filled with peace are at peace with everybody else. But people who are filled with hurt are going to hurt others. They’re going to lash out.

If I want to connect with people, I must start with their hurts, their needs, and their interests. If I want to be a good salesperson, I don’t start with your product. I start with your customer’s hurts, needs, and interests. If I want to be a good professor or pastor or anything else, I start with people’s needs, hurts, and interests.

Philippians 2:4-5 says, “Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had” (NLT).

In times of conflict, am I so busy trying to get others to see my position that I don’t listen to theirs? When each person is just speaking and not listening, I move further and further away from each other emotionally.

Instead, I need to intentionally switch my focus from my needs to their needs. Conflict resolution starts with the way I look at the situation. The word “look” in Philippians 2:4 is the Greek word scopos. It’s where we get our words “microscope” and “telescope.”

Scopos means “to focus.” The passage goes on to say that I should have the same attitude Jesus had. And I am most like Jesus when I’m focusing on the hurts of somebody else rather than my own.

There’s an old proverb that says, “Seek to understand before seeking to be understood.” When I’m focused on the other person’s needs and not my own, I’ll be able to get a better understanding of the situation and move forward with resolving the conflict. 

God Is Close, and He Understands

In Psalm 145:18 I read, “The LORD is near to all who call on him." (NIV)

God isn’t far away. In fact, it’s just the opposite. He’s as close as my next heartbeat.

He’s right there with me every moment. The Bible says, “God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us” (Acts 17:27 NIV).

There may be times when I might feel like God is a million miles away. But my feelings and reality don’t always match. The truth is, God is with me right now.

Here are three truths about my heavenly Father:

He is never too busy for me. Sometimes I get too busy for God. But he never gets too busy for me. That’s the kind of love he has. Psalm 145:18 says, “The Lord is near to all who call on him” (NIV). Every time I call, God is near. He thinks about me a lot more than I think about him. He thought about me before I was born and thinks about me every moment of every day.

He loves to meet my needs. He doesn’t do it begrudgingly, he loves it! Matthew 7:11 says, “If you . . . know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (NIV) Simply enjoy the fact that God loves giving good gifts to me.

He is sympathetic to my hurts. If I’m going through something tough this week, I may need this verse: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18 NIV). God is sympathetic. He’s not standing on the sidelines. He’s present in my pain.

God is close to me, and he understands what I’m going through. Turn to him; as he’s already there waiting for me!

In summary, the LORD is near to all who call on him. This means that God isn’t far away. He’s as close as my next heartbeat. He’s right there with me every moment. There may be times when I might feel like God is a million miles away. But my feelings and reality don’t always match. The truth is, God is with me right now. Here are three truths about my heavenly Father: He is never too busy for me. I often get too busy for God. That’s the kind of love he has. Every time I call, God is near. He thinks about me a lot more than I think about him. He loves to meet my needs. He doesn’t do it begrudgingly, he loves it! Simply enjoy the fact that God loves giving good gifts to me. He is sympathetic to my hurts. “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed”. God is sympathetic. He’s not standing on the sidelines. He’s present in my pain. God is close to me, and he understands what I’m going through. Turn to him; as he’s already there waiting!

A time will come when all will join together in recognizing and worshiping God. Because God is full of love, he satisfies all who trust him. I am close to him when I call on him in truth.

Father, thank you for Your Word and Jesus as my savior and example. You want me and I need you in my life. Please give me Your strength for today and remind me in little ways that I can always believe in, have faith in and can trust you in everything. This includes being the authority for my life, the source of my self-worth and my hope for the future. You have my best interests in mind. So I ask you to help me to embrace the way you’ve made me; my gifting and passions. Help me to serve and fulfill the mission you have in mind for me. 

Today, I ask you for wisdom and guidance for my day, my work, my leadership, my interactions with others, doing well and making a difference in others lives. I pray all these things through your Son Jesus’ name, Amen.