When people are traveling by plane, and the ride is very smooth, they tend to feel over a long period of time that everything is well until there is turbulence. If turbulence goes for a while, they would say it was not a good flight and they can say that because despite the turbulence the plane landed safely. As a matter of fact, the first question people tend to ask you is how was your flight. My standard answer is that it was a great flight; the plane landed.
When the economy is strong and jobs are well (may not be the exact job we want but we have one) we tend not have time to serve where we provide a lot of time to the Lord, when salaries are good we may debate how much we should give; some people may even say this is a lot when they give. It is not about how much God instructed them to keep; it is more about how much they gave. As a result, our giving to God becomes grudging rather than thankful. So sometimes God allows for turbulence.
Turbulence can come in the form of flood damage, wrecks, health issues, love ones struggling with health issues, death in the family, company may decide to down size or a supervisor, manager or president may resign and the new one is not as favorable. Now that there is turbulence, we come to God expecting immediate resolutions or protection because we forgot that it was more to life than what we have achieved or the level of security all our job benefits may provide. God talks about what this means in Deuteronomy 8:11-20.
When the plane is flying we forget how much traffic is in the sky, how many million of parts that must work right, the pilot that needs to stay alive and how many things that can go wrong upon landing or taking off. In the midst of life, we forget that someone must regulate the air we breath (especially with all the oil refineries we have), keep the animals or vegetation we eat multiplying, the earth spinning in space, the sun gassed up, the temperate regulation on earth so the seasons flow well; etc. When God instructs us to give, He is demanding respect for all He does that cause Him to own 100% of what we have. We are His earth that He sustains. It is respect, reverence that is worship and that is why giving in the Old and New Testament is worship (Malachi 1:6-14). “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38; NIV)
We give because God gave to us not because we are in church (Job 38-41). It is respect. It is reverence. It is worship.
