If you’ll forgive some local information and a brief personal story, you’ll hear the real heart behind the recent post, Cultivating a Heart that Listens to God. I’ve become convinced that despite all of the bad news in our economy, we’ve not yet heard — nor experienced — the worst. There’s more to come.

At the same time, if we will focus our energies on digging a well deep enough to retrieve the sustenance we need — out of relationship to God — we will be properly positioned to come through this season and the next.

(For the record, the story of the motorcycle accident was told to me as completely true story by someone whose word I trust. Please don’t try to use motorcycles as a weight loss program.)

Special thanks to Jesse DiMartino, Jacob Owens, J.R. Yoder and Andrew Owens… as well as to the entire Freedom Center family.

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You may know by now that I’m not a “doom and gloom” guy. I’m about as positive and optimistic as they come. That being said, I don’t think that the worst of the economic news is behind us. Things are changing very rapidly, and will continue to do so. In fact, I believe that what’s ahead of us is different than we could’ve possibly imagined.

The Importance of Hearing God

A Listening Heart

Back in March, God began to call to my mind the time in Isaac’s life when God spoke to him about starting a new business during an economic crisis. The passage is in Genesis 26, and it’s worth taking some time to study. Here are some of the highlights:

• God spoke to him not to move to Egypt, where the economy was better off (he was considering it).
• He and his “tribe” of people were nomadic. Raising crops was not part of their livelihood.
• Farms all around were going under — there was a famine. When this happens, it means that if you’re considering going into farming, now’s not a good time.
• After listening to and obeying God, Isaac plants crops. His harvest was 100x what should’ve been expected from the amount that he planted. One… hundred… times…

You may have heard preachers refer to this story in the context of an offering — as though Isaac gave money to a ministry or to a prophet or priest or man of God. Nope. His “sowing seed” was the beginning of a new (albeit temporary) business.

Countless Promises

The Scriptures are full of promises from God for provision — even during economic hard times.

“I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together. I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.” (Psalms 34:1-10 NKJV)

The problem is this: if you’re dealing with financial pressure, worry, anxiety, concern — either because of focusing on your own situation or due to the fear of what might be coming your way given the constant barrage of economic bad news — then you’re successfully distracted from listening to God. In times like this, it may take additional effort, energy, discipline and focus to silence your soul and dig deep enough to hear from God.

But it’s critical…

and worth it.

“Moreover, by them [the words of God] is Your servant warned (reminded, illuminated, and instructed); and in keeping them there is great reward.” (Psalms 19:11)

No one — not the best Wall Street analysts, the most qualified business consultants, the academicians in the ivory towers, nor the people attempting to pull the levers of the economy and our society — can predict what’s coming.

But by hearing from God, we can be

• warned
• reminded
• illuminated, and
• instructed.

If your life has, in other seasons, deceived you into thinking that hearing from God wasn’t critical or essential, then this season is one of those that will serve to teach you that it cannot be overlooked.

Had Isaac not heard from God, he wouldn’t have received the abundance that came his way during the famine of Genesis 26.

I don’t know about you, but right now, I’m working hard to cultivate a heart that hears from God. My life depends upon it.

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Let them shout for joy and be glad, Who favor my righteous cause; And let them say continually, “Let the LORD be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.” (Psalms 35:27 NKJV)

I don’t know about you, but ever since I can remember, it has always been in my heart to please God. I am truly thankful for the heart that is in me to please Him.  It’s not something that I can really take any credit for. There’s a tender something in me towards Him.

Sure, at times, it has been less influential over my thoughts or my actions. At times, disappointments and discouragements may have caused me to move away from it to a greater or lesser degree.  OK, that’s not fair.  Nothing can “cause” me to move away from it… but I may have chosen to do so due to my poor reactions at times to life’s blows.

But regardless of what may or may not have been… my heart is toward God. Is yours?  Do you want to please Him?

I do.

And it’s like a warm soothing balm to know that He gets pleasure out of the prosperity of His people.

Before you jump on me for sucker-punching you on this one, think about what the Scripture says at the beginning of this post.  Did I take it out of context? A little. Does that change its meaning? Not at all.  In fact, if you read the rest of Psalm 35, you’ll find out that what David was saying was actually much stronger than what I am saying.

One quick note: “prosperity” in this verse is the Hebrew word shalom.  I’ve done a lot of studying about this word over the years and I can tell you that its true meaning is “overall well-being.”  It represents a state of wholeness, of peace, of prosperity, of abundance, of safety, of soundness.  It isn’t just financial in nature, but it definitely includes the financial side of life.

So… if you’re wondering today about whether it’s a good idea for you and/or your business to be successful… think about pleasing God.

But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumph [as trophies of Christ's victory] and through us spreads and makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere, (2 Corinthians 2:14 AMP)

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We’ve talked previously in this setting about the notion that God is ultimately the giver of dreams (Psalm 37:4) and how that I believe that when we’re talking about these dreams that are rooted in the deepest places of our hearts, God gives them to us. By this, of course, I mean that He places them there to begin with! He then challenges us to engage the process of seeing them come to fruition. Not that He leaves us on our own (thankfully!)… but nevertheless, the process requires our involvement. But when it comes to the Source of these dreams… it is He!

Nevertheless, there are few things in life that can be accomplished without significant financial resources. This is true no matter what sort of dream you have. Even if your dream were purely, let’s say, to have healthy relationships with your family — your spouse, your kids, etc. — it would be severely hindered if you were impoverished. Lacking financial resources causes us to have to think constantly about where the money is coming from to pay the next bill… to get another job, to work harder and longer… all the while neglecting the people most important to us.

Is money the “be-all, end-all” goal? No way. However, none of us should apologize for turning a profit in business nor for bringing significant financial resources into our lives.

Some have argued that it is “selfish” to want to have abundance.

I would argue quite the opposite. If you are barely getting by, how can you pay for your neighbor’s kid to go to college? How can you buy a new car for that relative in need? How can you build a homeless shelter or create a camp for kids with illnesses?

Our poverty-minded thinking that has said, “I’ll be O.K. if I just have enough to pay my bills and put a little away for a rainy day,” has left us crippled and enslaved. You can’t be and do what God has called you to do without having more than enough financially.

Certainly, if we have hang-ups with greed, we need to address those as the heart issues they really are. But we must deal with them and move on!

There’s a great discussion on this subject going on over at Michael Pink’s blog. Check it out.

In the meantime, I’m going to leave you with a quote from former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher:

No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he’d only had good intentions – he had money, too.

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