Releasing the Blessing
Text: Ecc 11:1-6
Ecc 11:1-6 NKJV Cast your bread upon the waters, For you will find it after many days. (2) Give a serving to seven, and also to eight, For you do not know what evil will be on the earth. (3) If the clouds are full of rain, They empty themselves upon the earth; And if a tree falls to the south or the north, In the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie. (4) He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the clouds will not reap. (5) As you do not know what is the way of the wind, Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, So you do not know the works of God who makes everything. (6) In the morning sow your seed, And in the evening do not withhold your hand; For you do not know which will prosper, Either this or that, Or whether both alike will be good.
Introduction
One of the greatest mistakes, I think, that we make when we talk about money in the church is that we often do it in the context of a special appeal or in a crisis situation.
If I stand up & tell you that there are thousands of starving people who need our help & we’re going to take up an offering to send food - if that strikes your fancy - you’ll probably give & maybe even give sacrificially to help meet that need.
Or if I remind you that this is "Miracle Sunday" & we need your gift to help us build our new church building, & you feel that that’s a legitimate need, then you will give generously in response to that need, too.
And the result is that too often Christian people have been conditioned to think that the only time they really need to get serious about giving is when there is a need that appeals to their particular emotion. And some needs are just more appealing than others, aren’t they?
So we like to say, "Well, I gave to build the new church building," or "I gave to feed a hungry child." But to say, "I gave to pay the electric bill," or "I gave to buy some Sunday School books," is not very appealing. You see, our giving is oftentimes determined by the heart appeal of a particular need.
D. But the problem actually starts with us, with people who don’t recognize that the teaching of Scripture is not to give to needs but to give to God.
And when that is done properly & scripturally, the problems that we have been hearing so much about will be avoided because God has a system of safeguards to prevent just such misuse of His funds.
And that system is housed in the local congregation, the Church. It is a system of checks & balances within the body of the church to make sure that His funds are not misused. That’s a part of God’s economic system.
Solomon here is teaching an important principle. I call it the “Principle of releasing”. It goes something like this:
Principle: “When we release something into God’s hand he will always bless it.”
In verse 2 he expounds this principle. In verse two he says, Give a serving to seven, and also to eight, For you do not know what evil will be on the earth. Another person said, “Don’t put your eggs all in one basket”. Why? If you drop the basket then all you eggs will be lost. Here he says release but when you release have more than one area of releasing. Have more than one area in which you are giving into and giving up to God.
This principle of releasing is not a new principle. Actually you hear about it all the time. The problem is you only hear about it when it comes to finances. You only hear about it when some person is trying to raise their budget for the month or the year. Now I believe it can be applied to finances: tithes and offerings and we will see that in a moment. But I don’t want you to be limited to that. I believe the principle of “Principle of releasing” extends out to other areas. I believe that the Lord says any thing whether finances, time, praise, etc. When we release them to the Lord. In other words we give them with no obligation to the receiver with no rights of our own then the Lord will bless.
In verse 3 we are told that things happen. There is a principle to what happens. Verse 3 we learn that there are things that happen and cannot be changed. In other words if a cloud is full of rain it will eventually rain. If a tree falls it will fall, whether to the north or to the south it will fall, don’t expect it not to. It will land. In other words there are some things we can expect.
We can rely on this principle of releasing. If we will release things in our life unto the Lord then we can know that there will be another principle that will be activated and that is blessing. When we release God blesses.
So if I’m not receiving from God, then what is the problem? Either God is not keeping His promise, which is never true, or I have a giving problem, & that may be very true.
So what do I mean by releasing.
The word release means: “to discharge from obligation or responsibility, relinquishment of a right or claim.”. In other words when I say release I mean “to let go of”. It is no longer ours nor do have the right to it. By faith we release it into the hands of the Lord.
The first reason God doesn’t bless or heal is because we don’t release it
We let go of it. I have often prayed with people in the altar. They come down with a burden. They pray earnestly for God to take away the pain or remove the burden or even heal in their life yet the problem many times is that take the very thing back with them. They go back to the seat or the pew worrying about the same problem, thinking about the next step to healing. They don’t release it. They don’t give it to the Lord. They don’t let go of it. They don’t remove themselves from all obligation. They pick it back up again and question why God doesn’t do something. As I tell my people, “Sometimes God can’t do anything until we take our hand out of it”.
The second reason God doesn’t bless is as we see in verse 4
(4) He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the clouds will not reap.
Another translation reads, “If you wait for perfect conditions you will never get anything done.” Many times people don’t release their needs or finances or healings or work or time into God’s hands because they are waiting on the perfect time. They are waiting on the right time. And every time they start something else happens. The car needs repair. The job asked for more. I just don’t know if God heals. So they wait and wait until they miss out on the blessing of the Lord.
You see God says now is the time. Today is the day. Truthfully it is a matter of faith. What is true faith? Well faith basically is “losing our control and giving God control”. Faith means that no longer will we decide the right time but we just obey God and know it is time. Faith is what helps us to praise God before we receive the healing or the miracle we have been praying for.
Let me tell you, “When you motive is right, and your attitude is right then you can step by faith.” The Lord has been teaching me a lot about faith lately. Today was a message of faith. It was about saying God take control. Use me. I release my gift into your hands. I release the ability you have given me into your hands use me as you will. Now I can say that there is no obligation on my part.
The problem we have is that we wait on the right opportunity to release. Yet by that time
Faith is not about knowing, it is not about assurance it is about trust.
Faith is about quoting from Hebrews, Lord I believe your word that says
We can’t wait until we figure it out until we act on it. I don’t understand the complexities of oxygen but I surly don’t mind taking a breath.
What to Release?
1. Our Money
One of the most popular areas is in the area of finances. We hear this preached about a lot. The problem is not the priciple it is the application of the principle.
(Mal 3:10) Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
(Luk 6:38) Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
(Mal 3:8) Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
(Mal 3:9) Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
How to release?
1. Prayer
The first step to releasing is prayer. Talk to God. If you are having a problem letting go then tell him. I believe one of the step that turned Jesus disciples from followers into spiritual leaders was when they confessed to the Lord, “Lord help our unbelief”. It is real be honest with the Lord.
2. Praise
The second step is to praise. Praise gets the attention of God. I don’t care how busy the Lord is when he hears the praise of his people, when he smells the aroma of praise it gets God’s attention.
I heard this beautifully illustrated the other day. Over in the book of Esther chapter 4 we read of an Edict that had been passed. It was a law signed by the king. The law said that no one could come into the presence of the king unless he calls them. If they came in and the king did not raise his secuplecure or rod then they would immediately be taken out.
The pressure was mounting. You know the story. Haman, because of his hatred for Mordecai, was going to exterminate the Jews. So she called all the Jews to a three day fast. Then Bible says that she dolled herself up. She put on the royal clothes with included all the fancy jewelry and perfume. She wanted to get the attention of the king. Notice what happens. She comes around the corner and before she knew it she had the attention of the king. Oh he could smell her. Oh he knew who she was by her perfume. Let me tell you, you want to get the attention of God. You want to receive a blessing from God, just release the aroma of praise unto the Lord.
I want to get the attention of God.
3. Fasting
It is time that we quit becoming quit fix Christians.
Conclusion
Well what are we going to do. What in your life needs to be released? What are you holding onto?
