Trust God

The coworkers of God who do not receive enough should ask themselves, “Why is my share of God’s blessings coming in trickles? Am I not 100% obedient? Am I doing something that is displeasing to God? Am I deficient in faith-knowledge? Am I wavering in my faith?”

They should face the problem squarely, trace its root cause and do something about it with dispatch, before their situation worsens. Neither worrying nor engaging in religious commercialism, nor pocketing the tithes and offerings, nor doing away with Sabbath feasting, nor deserting their posts, will solve their problem.

One reason why some coworkers of God do not receive enough might be their failure to teach the importance of tithes and offerings. They might feel that the Church should limit its teaching and activities to spiritual matters, or that their members are financially hard up to do tithes and offerings.

The fact is, tithing is an indispensable key to material prosperity. To teach it is to love their members because it will open a door that leads to the reversal of their poverty. The favor of God is with the tithers. Not to teach tithing is to defy John 21:15 which says “Feed My lambs!” Not to teach it is to rob God of funds for ministry. The church workers that do not teach it and do not receive enough should not grumble. They deserve it! The worker deserves his wages (Luke 10:7).

¹³ Don’t you know that [the Levites] who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and [the priests] who serve at the altar share in what is offered at the altar? ¹⁴ In the same manner, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the Gospel should receive their living from the Gospel. 1 CORINTHIANS 9

We say Teach! Teach everyone to be tithers and teach them well. Bring about a church of tithers and a healthy Body. Bless others so God in turn will bless you.

⁹ Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. GALATIANS 6

Another reason why some coworkers of God do not receive enough might be their embarrassment to receive. They might equate receiving with parasitism or beggar-mentality.

Yet nothing is parasitic, wicked or shameful in obeying God’s instructions. Those who preach the Gospel shall receive their living from the Gospel, says 1 Corinthians 9:14.

God’s coworkers are meant to receive. God has instructed both the visible and the invisible to take care of them. Why? So that those at the receiving end may be humbled and their faith reinforced that God is with them. And so that those who take care of them may lend to God (Proverbs 19:17) and be repaid one hundredfold (Matthew 19:29, Genesis 26:12).

¹⁰ Timothy is carrying on the work of the Lord… ¹¹ No one, then, should refuse to accept him. 1 CORINTHIANS 16

⁹ Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 1 PETER 4

³¹ Fear the Lord and honour the priest and give him the portion enjoined on you: firstfruits and sacrifices of reparation and the shoulder-gift, the sacrifice of sanctification, and firstfruits of the holy things. ECCLESIASTICUS 7

²³ They are representatives of the churches and an honor to the Messiah. ²⁴ Therefore, show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that the churches can see it. 2 CORINTHIANS 8

⁶Anyone who receives instructions in the Word must share all good things with his instructor. GALATIANS 6

You might wonder, what if the coworkers of God do not receive enough after teaching their members to be tithers? The answer is, they must continue in teaching faith and in living by faith. Nobody teaches faith or lives by faith by worrying. In lieu of worrying should be praying, only this time with more intensity and sincerity put into it. They must continue to rely on what God can give, not on what men can give. In lieu of worrying should be expecting, without any of trace of doubt, that somebody is on the way to take care of their needs.

The possibility of birds and angels being sent should not be discounted. At separate occasions God gave instructions to the ravens (1 Kings 17:4), an angel (1 Kings 19:5) and a widow at Zarepath (1 Kings 17:15) to feed and quench the hunger and thirst of His coworker, Elijah.

One early morning in Baguio City we received instruction from God to go down to Manila. We did not have fare money but we dressed up and prepared for the travel anyway. We waited the whole day all dressed up. It was 8 pm when we received the money. God sent a dog to knock on our front door with a thousand-peso bill neatly folded between his teeth! As if to stress in our mind that God takes care of our needs, the same dog was sent on another occasion, this time with a five-hundred-peso bill neatly folded between his teeth!

² Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. HEBREWS 13

You might wonder, what if the coworker of God is sent to a place that is completely foreign to him, should he not worry about it? The answer is No. Because there are hearts everywhere, both visible and invisible, that God can touch and move.

How to locate the visible? Listen.

⁵ When you enter a house, first say, “[Shalom] to this house.” ⁶ If a man of [shalom] is there, your [greeting of shalom] will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. ⁷ Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. LUKE 10

In 2002 God sent us to Palawan, a southern island that is completely foreign to us. After three months, our money supply was cut. Yet we never went hungry. Whenever we needed food, somebody would give us food. Whenever we needed money, somebody would offer money. At one time a friend named Gen traveled three hours to come to our aid. She said, “There was this strong urge inside me to come to you and now I know why.”

On our eighth month, on the day our advance rent was consummated, our landlord asked us to vacate the apartment. That same day a blind churchmate named Adora called for us. God told her to, she said. When she learned of our predicament, she broke her piggybank and gave us the P37 in it, saying, “Use it to buy food then move to the apartment my sister owns. I have made arrangements with her. Pay her when you get the capacity to pay.” 

God takes care of His coworkers! God keeps His promises! (1 Corinthians 10:13 tev)

¹³ I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴ You may ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it. JOHN 14 

²¹ Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God ²² and receive from Him anything we ask because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him. 1 JOHN 3