If God’s material and human resources are inexhaustible and abundant, as I’ve argued, where are they? God says that everything on the earth is his; he owns the cattle on a thousand hills. But, in our earthly economy those cattle all belong to people, families, and organizations.
How does God conduct economic transactions on earth?
It would be handy if we could drive up to a GTM (God’s teller machine) to access divine resources. I’ve not yet found one of those.
In the unfortunate absence of GTMs, we must look elsewhere for God’s currency transfers. Thankfully, he has figured out how to handle that problem. The solution is the Church, the Body of Christ, his people.
God has deposited his immense material resources, skills, knowledge, experience and spiritual gifts in the likes of us.
You, me, we, are responsible for currency transfers on the earth.
So, how does that work?
When you have a genuine material need, and you have exhausted all your options for meeting it, will you trust God to handle it? A woman in my Bible study group said that when she was in college she really needed a car, and she had no money to buy one. So, she just kept praying, “God, I need a car.” Guess what? After a number of months, someone gave her a car.
I’ve heard other stories like that one, but I’m also aware of situations in which needs went unmet. Why? Was there a lack of faith on the part of the one praying for help? Maybe it was more of a want than a need, or the individual could handle it him or herself. Perhaps God wanted someone to help, but no one listened.
Only God knows.
However, I don’t want to be the one who didn’t listen.
When you have excess resources and someone else needs help, will you listen? My husband and I have met needs at times, and I have never regretted it. However, I do regret the occasions when we missed opportunities to bless someone, either because we weren’t listening or we were just plain selfish.
It’s not easy to part with resources or to discern to whom they should be given. It’s less complicated when someone that we know is truly in need, but that is rare. More common is to give to organizations who serve people in need. We support some organizations faithfully, but many others ask for donations. They are (mostly) good causes.
In fact, there are so many requests that I have learned to ignore then. Sometimes that is appropriate; other times I’m missing opportunities.
All of our resources are God’s, and we are simply His vehicles to get them where he wants them. That is, if we’re listening.
Lord, help me to hear your voice and to be generous with your resources.
Have you ever been blessed by another Christian with material gifts? How do you hear God when he tells you to help someone else?
Connecting Dots...to God 
“Have you ever been blessed by another Christian with material gifts?”
Yes, we’ve received thousands of dollars from believers without ever asking them for help. They would just call up or mail the money to us. But our biggest gift came from an unbeliever who loaned us $7500 without interest for two months. It was the amount we needed to keep our construction painting business going during a tough time in Louisville, Kentucky. (I should probably write an article on this.)
“How do you hear God when he tells you to help someone else?”
For the most part, the Holy Spirit impresses Carol or myself to give to someone. We talk it over and pray about it. Then, we move in unity, never second guessing our decision. (Just so you know: this invariably happens when we are squeaking by ourselves. The gift usually removes whatever we have in our accounts at the time.)
Hi Larry, I’m not surprised that you have been the beneficiary of help that you didn’t ask for. It’s wonderful that you and Carol give your resources so freely too. You are an inspiration!