Verity Christian Fellowship

Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel

1 Chronicles 21:1

When David took a census of all the fighting men of Israel, God became very angry with him. I have never really understood this passage before. Why would God get so angry with David just because he wanted to know how many fighting men he could call upon if needed? After all Israel at this time was always having trouble with its neighbours and any good general would want to know what resources he has available wouldn’t he?

However God in his wisdom has given me a practical lesson just recently which has helped me understand this passage. Our church is a small fellowship of about 35 adults and the same number of children. Our outgoings are minimal and so we have never had any problem with money. This has been good as I don’t believe church should be a financial burden on people. In the past when we have had a need God has always prompted someone to provide and we have had some generous gifts. It has also meant that when there has been a time of trouble, such as the recent earthquake in Haiti, people have been generous and responded. I have never doubted their generosity.

However we have now outgrown the building we worship in and have been looking for new premises. We have found somewhere but this will cost considerably more than we currently spend. However I believe it within our grasp. In order to assist people to make a decision about the move, I worked out how much each person would have to pay per month. As I was doing it, I had this nagging doubt that it was not right to do so, but could not think of a rational reason not to. I thought it would be helpful for everyone to know what they would be committing to. I was surprised how little the figure worked out at.

This is where the enemy stepped in and used this information against me. For I realised that some people already give far more than this. Therefore some people give far less or even nothing. I suddenly changed from believing the fellowship to be a group of generous people to thinking of then as penny pinching.

This was not good and not true. People give out of their ability and commitment. Some don’t have much money to give (like the widow in Mark 12) but give in other ways, such as time and friendship. Others are only on the edge of the kingdom and so don’t have the commitment. Putting more burdens on them would only drive them away and not draw them in as we want to.

The truth is God had always provided when David needed it. By taking the census David was effectively saying he did not trust God to provide. I did the same thing. God has always provided for us financially as a church. By trying to analyse what we had I gave him no room to work.

It is always right that we should count our blessings. We need to do so in order that we can realise just how much God does for us and be grateful. But we should not ask how he does it or try to control them. That just takes God out of the situation.