It’s been a while… Partly because I was in Sierra Leone, with no time and little internet, and partly because, well, the last month has been challenging. Running a ministry is no walk-in-the-park. And some days, it is just a whole lot more like a run through Jurrasic Park!
This one is going to be a little long, but I assure you that you’ll be glad if you stick it out! 🙂
The past few months have been months of leaning HEAVILY on the Lord to do what He said He would do, while not seeing any of it with our eyes. We have been short on funding and long on expenses – none of them fluff. There have been several crises, and things seemed grim. During my retreat at the Transforming Centre, immediately following a trip to Sierra Leone that demonstrated tremendous fruit in the lives of the women we serve, I was feeling a little shaky. The Lord had clearly spoken that the ministry would continue, but I really wanted Him to tell me what I was supposed to do in the midst of what seemed to be overwhelming odds against us. His answer? “Stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord.”
It was a clear voice. So I began to seek out what “stand firm” would look like in the midst of a financial ministry crisis. He answered, and is answering, and I want to share with you 3 stories that wrap around this stand in the here and now:
- The Back Story
- The Biblical Story (Parable)
- The “Rest of the Story” – Paul Harvey style
The Back Story
Accessible Hope’s fiscal year starts on July 1st. It is my job to present a (hopefully balanced) budget to the Board in May for approval at our annual meeting. Well, this year, that budget was far from balanced. But, as a Board we had sat together and discerned with great unity that the Lord was telling us to move forward in faith. So, the seriously unbalanced budget was provisionally approved, with the caveat to revisit after a new version could be presented following the creation of a new fundraising plan with the company we had hired to help us with that. So, last week, my Finance Manager and I spent hours reworking the budget to present for a meeting this coming Monday night. Now, we run one of the leanest operations around, I can assure you. So when we start to make cuts to our expenses, we are not cutting fat, we are removing muscle. We trimmed every muscle we thought we could limp along without, and added every reasonable amount of money we thought we could realistically raise, but it was still $25,000 short. Here was the ensuing conversation:
Me: “OK – I got this…” (Typing into line item 402-Special Gifts – $25,000)
Finance Manager: “What income is that??”
Me (typing): “Jesus’ Money in some manner which we know not”
FM: “That’s what you’re going to put in the budget?”
Me: “Yep. Because God told us to move forward, and He always resources what He calls to, so I know He’s going to provide that money, but He hasn’t told me what line item it’s going to come into. So I’m going to put it in Special Gifts at the end of the fiscal year, and give Him the next 11 months to show us.”
FM (bless her): “OK – you good with presenting that to the board?”
Me: “Yep.”
FM: “OK – then I guess we’re done, right?”
Me: “Yep – I’m hitting send now.”
The number of times I have thanked God for a Finance Manager who holds a firm grasp on fiscal responsibility and concurrently walks in trusting, wild faith are too numerable to count. (And this also goes for my Board.)
The Biblical Story/Parable
During my retreat, the Lord took me to the story of Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 17-20. He showed me the parallels and spoke to me directly through His instructions to Jehoshaphat as he faced an insurmountable challenge which no logical, reasonable plan would solve.
Jehoshaphat has just had a great salvation from God. “Jeho,” king of Judah, was a righteous king, and the Scriptures say of him that “his heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord.” To be a leader in a place of injustice, corruption, and oppression requires tremendous courage. He led differently than those before him and those around him. And the Lord established his kingdom because of his faithfulness. Furthermore, he turned the people under his leadership back to the Word of God and the laws of their Ultimate King. He sent leaders out into all the cities to read the Book of the Law of the Lord to all the people. And the Lord blessed him, and He blessed the land and the people.
One day, Jeho paid a visit to his neighbor and father-in-law, Ahab, King of Israel. Ahab’s reputation was vastly different than Jeho’s. But, they were friends, colleagues and relatives and they shared borders and history. While feasting with Ahab, Ahab asks Jeho if he will join him in a war against some other neighbors. Jehoshaphat replied that he was his ally and would assist him however he needed to. But then in a moment of discernment, he asked if they could inquire of the Lord first. So, Ahab brings in 400 false prophets to say what he wants them to say. Jeho has a check in his spirit, so he asks if there is another prophet for them to talk to (401 maybe?), and King Ahab admits there is one more, but Ahab hates him because he never prophesies anything favorable. (“Small” hint, Jeho…) But Jehoshaphat presses him, and Micaiah comes out. Micaiah has already been prepped that 400 other prophets have said favorable things, and that it would be in his own best interest to agree with them. But that’s not Micaiah’s style. When the kings inquire of Micaiah, I can only imagine the sarcasm dripping from his agreeable words, because everyone caught on that he was just unwillingly playing the evil king’s game. (Interestingly, the Scriptures clearly tell us that God sends and uses demons – lying spirits – to accomplish His own purposes in this story. But that is another discussion for another time.)
The king yells abuses at Micaiah and has his man strike him telling him to stop playing games and just tell the truth. So, Micaiah lays out a pretty grim scene, one that will result in much death if they proceed with their plan. Jehoshaphat seems to be having a pretty “off” day in regards to discernment and obedience, because when King Ahab says, “Lock that guy up! We’re going into battle anyway!” Jehoshaphat agrees to go with him. (Dude! You’re the guy that asked for a different prophet so you could find out the truth!) But such is the magnetic draw of power, position, and money. Plus, Ahab is not a nice guy, and people had good reasons to be scared of him. They go to battle, and King Ahab, who actually knows Micaiah speaks truth, schemes up a plan to go incognito, but let Jehoshaphat wear his kingly robes, so in case someone was looking for a king to kill, they’d see him instead. And again, Jeho agrees. We judge him, but some pretty stupid plans have been made in the middle of an inner struggle with acceptance and alliance and an outer struggle with powerful people of influence.
God is merciful to Jeho and spares his life in the midst of his stupidity and bad decisions. Praise God for His mercy! But, He’s also unhappy with him, because as a leader, he had jeopardized the lives of his entire nation by not listening to the messages God sent him. When Jeho returns home after the battle (in which Ahab, incidentally, is killed – because God is not fooled by different clothes…), a prophet calls him out and reprimands him for his foolishness in aligning himself with a king who so clearly did not follow the Lord. But he also commends him for the ways in which he has honored the Lord in his nation. We’re all such a mixed bag…
To his credit, Jehoshaphat learns from his mistakes, and goes on to develop leaders throughout the nation of Judah – judges and priests, whom he carefully trains and admonishes in the ways of integrity, justice, and uprightness. The nation flourishes as a result of the godly leadership that Jeho has put in place and things are going well.
And then, out of nowhere – he’s attacked. People bring word that a “great multitude” is coming into Judah armed for battle. More than they can possibly contend with. Fear fills his heart, and Jeho has 3 immediate responses:
- he sets his face to seek the Lord,
- he proclaims a fast for the entire nation, and
- he stands before his people and leads them in prayer.
In his prayer, he lays out for the Lord all that He has done in the past, and the ways He has led and blessed them. He ends his prayer acknowledging that he is powerless to address this disaster and says, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
As all of Judah – men, women, and children – stand before the Lord – scared, helpless and knowing that if He doesn’t respond, they are dead – the Lord speaks. He tells Jehoshaphat and all the people, “You will not need to fight this battle. Stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf.” Stand firm. Don’t be shaky. Don’t be afraid. Don’t worry. Stand firm. The Lord will solve the problem for you. Your job? Stand firm.
Humbled, they fall on their faces and worship. Then sing and praise loudly. Why? They believe Him. No – “Cool, but how are you going to do that?” No – “I mean, I trust you, but could you give us a sign?” Just rejoicing in the confidence that the thing they have heard is a done deal. THAT is standing firm.
So, early the next morning they head out to where the battle is to take place. As they approach the battlefield, Jeho turns to his people and reminds them, “Believe the Lord, and you will be safe.” Then he appoints singers to be the first ones into battle – singing and giving thanks to the Lord.
And as they approach the critical moment – where something amazing needs to happen or it’s all over – God surprises the enemy and they fight themselves, killing every last soldier. What?? That’s crazy! These are trained soldiers! No one even noticed what was happening and high-tailed it out of there?? Nope. Every. Single. One.
Dead.
Jeho and all his army spent THREE DAYS gathering up the spoils and treasure that was left behind. God not only delivers them from the battle, but He dumps so much treasure on them they can’t even carry it all away. And for the rest of Jeho’s days, the nation rests in peace and prosperity. Never underestimate the impact of a leader who listens to God, and takes Him at His word.
Be that guy/gal.
Stand firm. And see the salvation of the Lord.
The “Rest of the Story”
So, for the past week, I have been leaning in to what it means to “stand firm.” Some take-aways:
- Praise, don’t complain
- Be confident, don’t be shaky
- Proceed as directed, don’t shrink back
- Make sure those with you in the crisis hear what you are hearing
- Fast and pray – as a way of keeping your heart humble and receptive to the Lord’s direction
I have been making every effort to do these things, even on days when doubts and fears assail me.
Yesterday, a significant and very invested donor called me. We chatted for a while, catching up on various things. Then she said, “Hey, I have a cool story. The Lord recently blessed us and answered some significant prayers for our family resulting in a large amount of money. I was asking the Lord about what to give to Accessible Hope, and He told me to give you guys $25,000. We’ll send it next week.”
Me (smiling): “WOW! That is a cool story! But it’s cooler than you know. Want to hear the rest of it?”
The encouragement to both of us in that phone call was unreal! This was so clearly the Lord performing what only He could. The amount of joy it brought to both of our hearts cannot be quantified. And the joy isn’t even about the money! It’s about the gracious benevolence of God, who demonstrates His glory and His power and His provision to us when we stand firm in faith and praise – confident that He will do what He says He will do.
Me, messaging Finance Manager and Board Chair: “Hope you’re sitting down. ‘Jesus’ Money’ just came in. And we can move it to August on the budget.”
This battle is not finished yet. We still cut muscle out of that budget that needs to be replaced in order for us to function in a healthy manner. But can we doubt His ability to provide??
Standing firm,
Kim