“Mommy!  Can I go down town with you this afternoon?”  Lauren yelled out from her bedroom.  “Sure, if you don’t mind tagging along with me as I run my errands.”  Karen replied, trying not to sound extremely surprised.  Karen and Lauren had not been getting along with one another for the last few months.  But this was a very positive sign.  Lauren actually wanted to go out in public with her and amazingly, Lauren was willing to do something together with her mother!  Karen was feeling pretty hopeful that Lauren’s terrible mood might be starting to ease up. 

              Having no transportation of their own, Karen and Lauren often took the bus to places they need to go like to work and school.  But this afternoon Karen’s friend Sherri, from church, had volunteered to take her around town to the places she needed to go.  Sherri arrived about an hour later, they made a plan of places they needed to go, the bank first, the utility company second, and the grocery store last.  Karen asked Lauren if there was any place in particular she wanted to go.  Lauren said “No, I just wanted to get out of the house, but if we could stop by the Dollar Store, that would be nice.”  Lauren’s politeness made Karen’s jaw drop open, such a nice change of pace, she only hoped it might continue for a while.

              The first stop at the bank, Karen cashed her payroll check.  The amount was for only $650 and the first thing Karen did was separate $100 that she placed in a little tan tithe envelope.  Karen watched her mother write on the front of the envelope, $65 tithe, $35 offering.   Next they went to the utility company.  She made a payment of $289.  Well we are going to have to be careful at the grocery store because we only have $100 to spend this week and $100 for next week with about $50 left over for expenses.  Lauren frowned, “That’s lame.” she commented.  “God isn’t doing his part, Mom.” she went on to say, “You are giving to God, but He isn’t paying you back.”  “Yes he does” Karen replied defensively.  “No he isn’t” Lauren argued, “I heard the preacher on television say, “you reap what you sow”, when you give to God he will open the storehouses of heaven and pour out a great big blessing on you. Then I heard him say that you can’t out give God.”   She pointed at her mother’s bank receipt and asked, “Do you call that a blessing?  If it is then you’re getting a bum deal.” 

              Karen and Sherri looked at one another speechless at Lauren’s opinion.  Then after a few moments Karen responded, “That preacher was wrong, we don’t give to get, God gives and we get.”  Lauren looked skeptical, and was not convinced, “You are giving to God but it doesn’t look like he is giving much back to you, we don’t have enough to buy nearly enough groceries, no new clothes, that’s so lame.”   Sherri suggested, “Sowing and reaping is a valid Biblical principle but it is not for the purpose of getting God to provide for you or to win favor with God.  God is more than willing to give to us anyway.”  Karen smiled and said, “God gives to us all we need because he loves us not because he owes us.  In fact, every week I see God’s hand providing for us.  Sometimes we get extra cash in the mail.  Sometimes Neil remembers to send Ernie’s child support. Sometimes I find a gift in my pocket after church someone slipped there.  Sometimes a customer at work gives me an extra big tip.  We never have more than what we need but neither have we been without anything we really needed.”   Lauren looked a little less skeptical and then she admitted, “I need to think about that a little longer.”  Karen added, “I stopped worrying about where the money was coming from a long time ago, now I just sit back and watch God provide day after day and week after week and He always has.” Lauren knew in her heart that her mother was right, but she didn’t want to admit it at that time and she didn’t understand how the preacher on television came up with his view but suddenly he sounded pretty faithless begging for money rather than trusting God to pay for his TV show.

Discussion Questions:

1.  Does running short of money cause you anxiety that you may not have enough money for things you need?  Do you need trust God more than you trust money to take care of you?

2.  What steps might you take in order to stop putting as much trust in money?

3.  Have you ever felt God owed you prosperity because you have faithfully given money to Him?  Why is this logic flawed?   

4.  How does giving/not giving money to God affect your walk with Christ?

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