14/ Counting the Cost
My Jewish friends had decided to sell up and return to Israel. They offered me their new 25 inch coloured television, for half of what they had paid - $500. The offer was very tempting, exchanging a 12 inch black and white T.V for such luxury.
As I sat on the side of my bed I took out my bank book and thought about my financial situation. At that time I was only employed on a part-time basis, at the local T.A.F.E college. That income, plus the part-pension, didn't make for a healthy bank account. As it turned out I only had about $800 in the bank. Looking at the grand figure of $800, God spoke to me and said:
"Would you give $500 to the church building fund?"
In 1983, $500 was an awful lot of money, especially for me. My immediate thoughts were one of horror.
"What, $500 to the church building fund?"
Immediately God responded, "What have I given you? Did I count the cost?"
"Yes, that's right," I thought. "God, you have given me a job, a comfortable home, three lively children." God broke into my thoughts. "I gave you my life." That last point finished the discussion. What else could I say!
The following week, God spoke to me again on the matter. An unexpected guest came. I mentioned the issue to her and straightaway the reply was, "My dear, everything you have comes from God, what you do with His money is your affair." Her answer convinced me not to buy the T.V. By the same token it hadn't convinced me to give $500 to the church building fund. I thought the matter had ended there, not so God.
Two days later friends came for a visit. In passing, it was mentioned that they were going to have the telephone connected. My response to that was, "Isn't that going to be expensive?" Her reply came hesitantly, "Well, I suppose we don't really need it." I realised then that too often I had spent God's money carelessly, without taking into consideration that it costs money to run a church, or send out missionaries.
Finally God had gotten through to me. Where money is concerned, I'm a slow learner. Having struggled on the pension as a sole parent with three children had taught me to manage my money. I guess the line has to be drawn between being careful with your money, or greedy.
As it hurt me too much to get the money out of my account in one go, I decided to ease the pain and take the money out in two lots. Two hundred dollars were grudgingly dropped into the collection bag. Finally the next Sunday I made the next big sacrifice and dropped in the next amount. Just for good measure I decided to be generous and drop in an extra $20. God must have had a good laugh at my expense. I have to smile at myself, when I look back on the situation.
God knew how I would react to the whole situation before he even allowed it to happen. I, however, had to find out what I valued more in life; a coloured television, or $500 in the bank, or listening to God's voice.
Through the situation God blessed me tremendously. He didn't need my money, all he wanted was my obedience and love. Within days I was offered extra hours of work, taking the place of a teacher who was going on leave for three weeks. The extra hours netted $900. Repairs needed to be done on the car. The company under-quoted itself, saving me nearly $200. Through a friend, I had all the brakes on the car fixed, saving me a considerable amount of money.
All in all God gave me back three or four times what I had given him.
It is good to count the cost, because only then do we realise how much
God has given us and how little we give him.
1/ Fiji
2/ Egypt
3/ Israel
4/ Papua New Guinea
5/ Forgive or I cannot forgive you
6/ Jesus still heals today
7/ Suicide
8/ Long Bay Gaol
9/ Attempted murder
10/ Bathurst Gaol
11/ Angels
12/ How to pray
13/ Cords
14/ Counting the cost
15/ The heart condition
16/ Lorraine
17/ Dracula - fact or fiction
18/ If you love me
19/ Being gay
20/ Faith
21/ Roots
22/ Malaysia
23/ Fiji revisited - 1997
24/ What Jesus means to me
25/ My diary entries
26/ Conclusion