At any given time, I have a few friends struggling with cash flow who can’t pay all the bills. Some in the business realm and others in ministry (same thing). They are not lazy or unmotivated, they have powerful attributes of success. They are in the theological space of believing they are doing God’s work and that He will come through for them. Because I’m doing the will of God, He will pay the bills! (Matt. 6:33) Their testimonies are usually in the category of giving God all the glory. Their stories and hope reside in God showing up at the last minute and doing a miracle because they “believed.” I’m suggesting that’s a theological formula for a train wreck in finances, health, and relationships. A business or a ministry that designed around God doing miracles to meet every need is a time bomb waiting to go off. Here’s why:
At the dawn of time, God was responsible for everything. Yes, He did it all in Genesis 1. Then, He sent His son, and Jesus did it all in His Father’s name. Now, Jesus is seated at the Father’s right hand, and His sons are commissioned to do it all in their Father’s name.
Mt. 28:19 – Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…
John 14:12 – Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
John 20:22-23 – He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them they are not forgiven.’
Phil. 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me
The problem comes when we confuse the age we’re in with tradition. We can’t go back and try to make the son or our Father responsible for our assignment. It’s our job to know the Father’s purpose and manage our cash flow, health, and relationships. Being an ignorant serf and trusting God to take care of us just doesn’t fly in an age of sonship – it’s an airplane with no fuel, a person with no book.
Example #1 – One of my friends is in “ministry.” He has turned the corner from evangelistic or prophetic meetings and offerings to a very well-done contemporary website addressing politics and covid in the spiritual context of what God is doing. Although the quality and content are excellent, he is still in the offering mentality with roots in believing God will provide. That translates to an expectation that other people will send him money to pay for his lifestyle. They won’t! Even if they did, he would continue a life of poverty living from one offering to the next because he won’t manage his cash flow and won’t see the value of his work as something people might be glad to buy.
Example #2 – Many other friends are in business fulfilling a dream they felt was Godly. They just forgot to manage their cash flow and need a miracle. The concept of cash flow is that we project our income and expenses into the future, and we create space (savings) to manage risk, the inevitable downsides that go with every business. Christian entrepreneurs can be a dangerous mix. like my ministry friend, they believe God gave them their dream, and God will provide (Mt. 6:33). So, they prioritize spending money on the will of God to make their dream come true and logically put things like taxes, salaries, and bills in second place. It is exhilarating to invest in your dream until the cash flow doesn’t work. Then, the bankruptcy or restructuring is downright depressing.
Sons take a different approach. They see their book and what their Father is doing so they are just as visionary as the ministry guy and the Christian entrepreneur. The difference is they take ownership of the responsibility to bring that purpose to earth. They expect warfare and setbacks and carry the spirit of wisdom to overcome anyway. They see purpose and manage risk instead of delegating it to the miraculous. They have received the prophetic revelation and obey their calling, but it’s not blind obedience. Its ownership of an assignment to multiply that includes a spirit of wisdom to navigate a thousand setbacks and a thousand marketing delays. They expect failures and have the wisdom to bring Father’s purpose to earth anyway. They are present in the council navigating mid-course corrections as a way of life. They see God as alive and interactive, and they see His purposes with more than one way to get there. They have seen what their Father is doing, they have the initiative to get started on the Father’s business, and they have access to the spirit of wisdom to finish.
I wouldn’t say sons have more tenacity. They get something new from the council as often as they need it. They are not hanging on to an idea, prophecy, or a promise that is years old. They live by every word that proceeds from the Father (Mt. 4:4). They don’t see their Father and his strategies as static. Sons can navigate the cloud moving. Sons can survive deaths and resurrections without giving up. Sons can have a page turned in their book and cooperate with it. They actually help create those “new paths.” They are fathers themselves who can breathe life into things and people that are dead and prophetically create with their words – all because they saw it first in the council.
Rom. 4:17-18 – “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God (the council) in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. ESV
Ps. 84:7 – They go from strength to strength, Every one of them appears before God in Zion (the council). NASU
