Stirred Hearts

I am a church girl...practically born and raised on the second row pew of an Assemblies of God church. Actually, my parents began their relationship with Jesus when I was two-years-old, but ever since that time, they took us kids to church pretty much every time the doors were open. These were the days of revival meetings...as my 7-year-old would say, "Back in the day." She's always curious if certain things occurred "back in the day".

Our family would plant ourselves in our pew, specially reserved for the Weston family during evangelistic meetings and missionary meetings from Sunday through Wednesday nights. Altar calls were definitely an integral part of the evening when many would venture forward to begin a relationship with Jesus, recommit their lives to Christ or answer a call upon their lives. Of course, I felt "called" at every meeting to be a missionary, whether it was to Europe or South America. I do remember specifically asking God NOT to call me to Africa. It was my greatest fear that God would somehow make me go to that scary place.

The special offering for the evangelist or missionary was also imperative. As a teenager and young adult, this offering time pulled at my heart strings. I was always stirred to give in order to help whatever project for which they were raising money. Perhaps this was partly due to the influence of my parents. No matter who was preaching, even the most boring speaker (yes, some of those sermons caused a few eyes to shut), my mom and dad always gave something. They desired to be part of something larger than their sphere of influence. This act of generosity prompted in me the same desires to have an impact on a grander scale. While I'm not in Africa or another country, God can still use the gifts I give to reach out to those who need His touch in their lives.

Last week, I had one of these "aha" moments as I read some verses in Exodus that convey God's instructions to Moses regarding the building of the tabernacle. Not exactly action-packed passages, but I saw things in a different light than ever before. Exodus 35:21 states, "All whose hearts were stirred and whose spirits were moved came and brought their sacred offerings to the LORD..." The verses following that state, "Both men and women came, all whose hearts were willing..." "All the women who were willing used their skills to spin the goat hair into yarn..." And, "So the people of Israel--every man and woman who was eager to help in the work the LORD had given them through Moses--brought their gifts and gave them freely to the LORD." Finally, "Their contributions were more than enough to complete the whole project."

God has not gifted me in the area of spinning goat hair into yarn; although, I don't mind at all shopping for anything made out of goat hair. Actually, I can't think of anything currently in my closet created with goat hair. YET, God does stir my heart to give. Sometimes, however, I don't act upon that Holy Spirit nudge. And, guess what? It goes away. I ignore it, and the desire leaves. Have you ever had that occur in your life? A time in which you felt prompted to give money or use your gifts and ignored it?

Tony and I have pounded this conversation to death. He wants to mull it over, chew on it, ponder it...whether to give to a certain project, and I want to write a million dollar check right now! Of course, I don't have a million dollars to give, but my desire is that strong. Tony wants to consider the needs around us and make a prayerful decision regarding where our dollars are best used. There's no right or wrong here. In fact, I believe there's room for both actions. In 2 Corinthians 9:7, Paul says, "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

God seems to use more than one means to accomplish his work. He moves our hearts to give as we see the needs around us, and he desires us to choose to give certain decided amounts joyfully! Perhaps this is the difference between the tithe and other special offerings. Tony and I have made a conscious decision regarding our tithe amount; however, other gifts we can give as we see the immediate needs around us. I don't know about you, but almost every day we get requests in the mail for donations to various needy organizations. I desire to help many of them, but I also want to be a good steward of the money God has given us. We find ourselves caught in a crossfire of local, national and international pleas for help.

What's the answer? God will direct you differently than he does our family. However, a couple of things crop up in my mind as I consider this. First, I must not ignore the stirring of my spirit to give. I need to act on what is most likely the Holy Spirit prompting me. The amount is insignificant; that I give...is. Secondly, God does urge me to carefully consider what I give. I need to make choices where to give on all levels. As a husband and wife, Tony and I decide together the people or organizations we should support. This is challenging because we both have strong opinions about where our dollars can best be used. We do agree that we want to support the outreaches in our local community first and foremost.

Praying about where to give is essential. I can't claim to have heard an audible voice from God on this, but I do know that many times, His answers to our "where shall we give" prayer are the needs right in front of our faces. In addition, God wants us to be generous givers with whatever he has given us. I can't help but relate back to the Israelites in Exodus. When they gave, their contributions were MORE than enough to complete the whole project. In fact, Moses commanded them to stop giving. "And so the people were restrained from bringing more, because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work." Just think what could be accomplished if our hearts were stirred and our spirits moved to give, and we actually brought our gifts to the LORD!