As the Book of Exodus opens, the Israelites are living as slaves in Egypt. This has been their existence for so long, they can’t imagine anything else. It’s bitterly hard, but they’ve accepted it. There is no sign of hope, no evidence of any dreams that life could someday be different. Even Moses’ power as a high-ranking leader in the Egyptian regime isn’t enough to spark their interest, let alone confidence, in God’s plan to set them free.  In the face of their apathy and hostility, Moses abandons them. He gives up on God’s vision for their lives, and his, fleeing to the wilderness for safer life, one without all the struggle and conflict.

Forty years later, God reignites the dream. He empowers Moses to return and speak again to the Israelites. This time, they listen. This time, they catch the vision. They can almost taste the freedom of life outside of Egypt! They are so excited and ready to take the next steps! But what happens next is so typical when we hear God speak, when we catch His vision, when we decide to go for it.

Obstacles appear. Opposition rises. Things get worse – way worse – before they get better. The Israelites are tempted to give up and remain where they are: not free, but comfortable enough with their familiar sorrows and pains. Fortunately, God doesn’t let the story end there. Instead, He allows them to struggle, not just once, but repeatedly. He keeps requiring that they walk by faith. When they do, deliverance comes. And in the end, no one dares to question that Yahweh-Jireh, God-Our-Provider, provided everything needed to escape Egypt and take possession of the Promised Land.

Almost twenty years ago, God gave CCTV a vision for a new church home. Steps of faith were taken to purchase the land. Next came many struggles, many ups and downs for many years. We’ve done mobile church for so long that most who attend CCTV today don’t know anything else. It’s hard, yet it’s familiar. We are used to it. But now our land is paid off, the plans are drawn, and the building permit is ready to be issued. The building project can start whenever we, the people of CCTV, agree that funding our new church home is God’s next big step of faith in our lives.

Like the Israelites standing on the banks of the Red Sea, we have a decision to make. Will we be frozen by fear, unable to step out in faith into what looks like a dangerous place? Unlike the Israelites, no literal army is chasing us down… but inflation is real. The economy is tough. It’s scary! How can we be expected to donate to the church at a time like this? Can we trust that God won’t let us drown in the cold sea of a financial recession? Here is His answer to that, from Malachi 3:10-11:

“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and try Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” says the Lord of hosts.

God promises that if we are faithful in financially supporting His church, He will not only take care of us, He will abundantly bless us!  These verses are the only place in the entire Bible – and giving financially to His church is the only situation – in which God gives us permission to test Him.

God didn’t demand all of the Israelite’s money, nor ours. He knows we need to support ourselves and our families. He knows that giving even a small percentage will take faith in His amazing promise to care for us. He isn’t after your money, but your heart – because giving Him your heart results in the best life. Will you stop today – right now – and ask God for His direction about giving to our building project? Then, in the words of Mary from Luke 2:5, “Whatever He says to you – do it.”