Build My House Series

The next thing we need to look at is The Disaster. The people got distracted by life, by everyday things, raising their families, earning a living, building houses and homes. But something went wrong. Instead of getting more they were getting less. The harder they worked the harder they had to work. Every time they seemed to be able to make ends meet someone would move the ends. Why? Was it because they were doing bad things? Evil things? No. So what did God have against people who just wanted to earn a living and get ahead in life? Nothing.

The problem wasn’t what they were doing, it was what they weren’t doing. You see here’s the problem. God allowed the people of Israel to return home so they could rebuild the temple. God blessed them as a people so they could rebuild the temple. And they blew it. They took what was meant for the sacred and they squandered it on the everyday.

Let me tell you a Denn story. When I was in College I was learning to fly, and it was expensive but I was convinced that was what I was supposed to be doing, and God helped me pay for it. I got extra hours at work, things seemed to work out. That summer I received a great summer job and was able to buy what I thought was a dream car but it actually turned into a nightmare. Around September I realized that I hadn’t been flying, and that once my tuition at college was paid for the fall I didn’t have the funds that I needed for flight time.

And so I questioned God, why didn’t I have the money. I was doing what I thought I was supposed to be doing and I had prayed about my need, I had been faithful in making sure I tithed what I made, so where was my flying money? And God directed my attention to my five year, old light metallic green, fully loaded Chrysler Newport.

I had squandered what God had given me on the wrong thing. It didn’t look like the wrong thing, as a matter of fact it looked pretty impressive on the lot, it wasn’t a bad car, or an evil car but it wasn’t what God had given me the money for. It was the worst car I ever owned and I’ve owned some pretty sad cars. I spent major bucks on it, dumped piles of money into it and ended up almost giving it away.

I’m sure that nobody here has ever been in that situation where they prayed that God would provide and he did, and they used it on the wrong thing and then they didn’t get the extra hours they thought they’d get, or the bottom fell out of their investments or the sales weren’t there. And they blamed God.

I wonder if that is why God included Luke 16:9-10 in the Bible? You don’t remember Luke 16:9-10? It says I tell you, use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. In this way, your generosity stores up a reward for you in heaven. “Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won’t be faithful in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.

And it’s not just money, it’s easy to give away our time, talents and priorities, things God provided for expanding His Kingdom for the everyday. And we’ve been at this for a long time, we’ve been setting up and tearing down for over nine years. And it’s easy to think “This is never going to happen, we’re never going to get beyond this point.” But now it’s happening. Have you been by the land yet? This isn’t land we are thinking about buying, it’s not land we’re looking at, it’s not land we have an offer on, this is our land.