The Matthew 6 Dare

Michelle and I have been doing this “missions thing” for just over a year now.  We have seen some pretty cool financial miracles happen and have always been awe struck at God’s provision in spite of what the reality of our finances dictates.  To summarize, each month we typically live on about 70% of what our budget states we need to live.  And to assign real numbers to the percentage, that 30% is about $1000 each month that we don’t have.  How would any of you do if for the last 14 months if you were short $1000 each month?

The reality is that many, many workers like us exist on budgets like this.  In fact, many people we know are living on even less than we are.  Each of us willingly depends on God to provide each month, and most of us have more than one story each month of what He did.

Heading into this September (2012), Michelle and were challenged by God to do something foolish.  Well, foolish by human standards.  Anything that God asks you to do is not actually foolish but wise since, you know, He’s God.

The challenge was this: trust Him to provide.

That seems simple enough, right?  Let me provide more details.

We had been trying to purchase a car for a couple of months, but ended up using most of the money we had saved to repair our van.  We also had a little bit of money sitting in our savings account for an undefined “emergency”.  God told us to give it all away.

At the same time, we were seeing how much money had come in for us to live on in September and we knew it was not going to be enough.  Like, hardly cover the rent but nothing else for the next 30 days not enough.

And God lead me back to Matthew 6:25 – 34:

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[e]?

²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

The challenge was simply this: give away the last of our savings to worthy needs and therefore remove the “safety net” for the month of September.  Recognize that we will not have enough money to pay our bills and buy food or gas and then trust God to provide all things for the month.

And we took Him up on the dare.

For the next few days, we will be posting a diary that we kept during the month of September to record the happenings and the corresponding feelings.  We hope you enjoy reading about what we went through, but we also hope that you take the time to replace our faces with those of other missionaries you may know.  Especially those that are working in the USA.  Please go ahead and share these diary entries with other Christians and challenge them to do the same.  Perhaps we can raise some good awareness about the life of a missionary to the USA.

Thanks

/RD

(Part 1 coming tomorrow!)