Why is there more to it than success?
Men value themselves by what the world calls success
A ministry colleague of mine was faced with a dilemma several years ago. He had a $30,000 bill that had to be paid in 30 days. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any funds available to pay it. As he was praying about this, he felt that God was pointing him to 3 individuals to approach. In his mind he immediately said “Yes, God” any one of these three could easily write a check for the $30,000 without blinking an eye. In fact, all three of them were long-time supporters and friends of the ministry. He could feel some of the pressure lift and a confidence return to his outlook. Then it all changed in an instant.
He sensed God was telling him that he wasn’t to ask any of them for the needed funds. In fact, if any of them offered to provide the funds he was not to accept them. He was to say that he wanted them to simply pray with him over the next 30 days to ask God to provide.
When he called each of them to ask for their help, they each offered to write the check. By simply saying ok, he would have the $30,000 in the checking account immediately. But rather than saying ok, he told them what he felt God had shown him about their involvement; that he wasn’t permitted to accept any funds they may have offered. As the beads of sweat grew on his neck, he asked them to pray with him for the next 30 days. All three somewhat reluctantly agreed and they decided a daily conference call at lunch would be their prayer schedule.
Over the next 3 weeks they prayed and heard about how unexpected funds had shown up in the mail. They opened envelopes together and watched the number rise from $100 to $1000 to $5000 and ultimately $25,000 in three weeks. They were amazed but new they hadn’t reached the goal of $30,000. For the last week nothing more came in, they were stuck at $25,000 a mere $5,000 short.
As they were praying that last day, the mail arrived and was placed in front of my colleague on his desk. He began thumbing through the bills and junk mail. There was nothing there that looked like the missing $5,000 check. But there was a wrinkled and partially torn envelope that looked like an invitation or small thank you card. When it was opened, tucked inside a folded piece of note paper was a check for $5,000. The note simply said, please use this anyway it is needed. As he described the envelope and note as well as the amount of the check all 3 of the men on the other end of the conference call got chocked up and emotional. When things finally calmed down one of the men offered up an explanation of what he was going through.
“For years we have used our financial success to fund many in our community. It has always been an honor to do so. We have all thought that was the only way God would use us. Today we found out he could use us in an entirely different way.”
On that day, three successful businessmen watched their lives becoming more significant. They learned that their contribution to the Kingdom of God was more than just money. It came from one of those places they least expected it to.
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