“I showed them everything I own – all my royal treasuries.” (2 KI 20:15b)

The invitation to attend a milestone event celebration was a little surprising. Over the years we had lost touch with this friend. We went because we felt honored to be invited despite having let our relationship languish.

He was struggling financially when we first met him. Yet, if he felt moved to give away his last dollar to someone else in greater need he would, confident that the Lord would come through for him. He never, ever, failed to give God credit for everything he had in life; the little and the much. This characteristic impressed and convicted me at the same time. No matter what his circumstances were, he always trusted that God had and would provide.

We heard his circumstances had changed and that his financial situation was far less tenuous. It’s fair to say he now enjoys a season of wealth. As we drove up the quarter-mile long drive, we came upon an estate with a primary home, a detached apartment home, a beautifully landscaped pool, and several acres of land creating a boundary of privacy and seclusion. It was breathtakingly gorgeous.

Being nosy, I wanted a tour and he obliged even though it took him away from his other guests. He was proud of where life had landed him and freely shared information that could have been off-putting and arrogant. But it wasn’t. As we toured we heard story after story of how God had placed people in need in his path and how the Lord had worked in those situations through the provision He’d given our friend.

His success had not changed him. For all of the riches and treasures he had, he never once took credit for it. He had not lost his anchoring in God. He knew and professed that everything he had truly belonged to God. He held it with an open hand, believing it was not for him, but to be a blessing unto others.

King Hezekiah could have learned a lesson from our friend.

Hezekiah is hailed as one of the greatest kings of Judah. He was faithful to the Lord and trusted in Him for deliverance from the Assyrians. He re-instituted When he fell ill, he did what he knew to do. He prayed that the Lord would remember him. When he was healed, he sang a song of praise. He was a man of strong and enduring faith. Even the faithful strong can stumble when it comes to wealth.

Somewhere along the way, his anchor to God frayed. It never completely cut loose, but as time went on and Hezekiah enjoyed prosperity and wealth, he lost sight of God as his ultimate provider. He began to see his riches as a result of his own greatness. This is why, when the envoys from Babylon show up for a visit and Hezekiah gives them a tour of his palace, showing them all of his treasuries and wealth, Isaiah calls him into account for how he portrayed his ownership of these things. Hezekiah held them with a tightly closed hand.

The envoys never heard Hezekiah give God the credit for any of it. As far as they were concerned Hezekiah was fairly full of himself. In his pride, Hezekiah was short-sighted to the ramifications of sharing all of that information. The Babylonian officials returned home knowing how much wealth Judah had, making her a prime target for invasion. Indeed, Babylon did invade Judah 100 years later.

Do you wonder what might have happened if Hezekiah had impressed upon those Babylonian envoys that everything they saw was because of his great God? I do. Instead of going back and seeing Jerusalem as a wealthy target, maybe they would have gone back with a healthy reverence for the power of the Lord? That isn’t what happened so we’ll never know.

There is warning for us in this. We can be strong in our faith. We can be hailed as spiritual leaders and still fall into the trap of not giving credit where credit is due. When we consider our wealth (whether it be a lot or little by the world’s standards) do we view it as a possession earned and therefore owned by us? Or do we recognize that our wealth, be it a little or a lot, is God’s and we are simply the beneficiaries? Do we give God credit for all that we have and hold it with an open hand believing its purpose is not so much a blessing for us but to be a blessing for others?

I needed to spend time today letting go of possessive attitudes I have about certain things. They are not mine, they are the Lord’s. Yet, I have taken ownership of them and have not given credit where credit is due. There are some things that I hold tightly and instead need to hold out with an open hand so that they become blessings to others.

I want to be like my friend. Yes, I’d love to be that wealthy, but more importantly, I want to connect God to every room in my house, every meal served, every relationship forged, every word spoken, and every dollar in my wallet. If you tour my house, either literally or figuratively, I want you to hear and see how great my God is.

What might happen in the world if we give God the credit and hold our treasures out with an open hand, believing that they are to be a blessing unto others? Click To Tweet

We will not know if we do not do it.

Denise

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