Stewardship

Hey readers! Welcome back to another blog entry!

As I’ve been out here in the world doing all of the things that help keep my household going and my lifestyle full, I started hearing the Lord speak to my heart again. He started repeating to me the word “stewardship”. He then would remind me of the story of the men with talents. After that, he would highlight the word “fruit”. With every word or scripture passage that I’d receive from God, I would ask more questions about it. What did the talents that the Lord gave me have to do with the men in the story? Is God saying I need to be bearing more fruit in this season than I think I already am? I was borderline going through paranoia because I’ve been intentional about hearing and moving for God the first time he speaks to me instead of procrastinating like I usually do.

Then one day I was on tik tok and joined a live where a woman was holding space for prayer and for people to experience the Holy Spirit. I generally like to go into these kinds of lives to show my support because it’s normally anywhere between 10 to 40 people watching them. In the case where the host may be nervous, I like to leave messages of encouragement to them in the hopes that they feel supported by a sister in Christ. As I was watching and encouraging, the woman located and spoke to me directly. She shared with me a couple of things that served as confirmation. 1) That I am not blocked from hearing or receiving from God. 2) That there is nothing more that I need to be doing right now because I am already moving in my Proverbs 31, I just need to focus on stewarding it so that I can see the growth.

Ironically, as she was going to say the next thing, her internet connection went out and she had to start her livestream over completely. The two things she was able to share with me though were paramount. They were paramount because I have always been a “checklist” kind of person. I’d make a list of goals that I want to meet and as each one is accomplished, I move to the next goal. Well as of recently, I accomplished all of the goals that I set for myself and began to think about new things that I wanted to accomplish. This is when I believe God started speaking to my heart the word “stewardship”.

**To steward over something means to be responsible in overseeing and protecting something considered worthy of caring for and preserving.

When I think about all that God has blessed me with thus far: My marriage, my home, successful entrepreneurial ventures, my car, a transformed character etc. I can see that these things are not to be taken lightly. For many people, these things are surface level accomplishments, and it can be considered as a “no brainer” that if you work hard enough, you will be able to keep these things afloat because that’s what living the dream is. As a believer, we understand that the things God allows us to have are blessings, yes, but they are also responsibilities we are expected to take care of (Luke 12:48). What I had to grapple with and what I hope to help you as the reader understand is that the blessings of God are not one dimensional. Our God is not one dimensional. His Word spoke for the hundreds of generations before us in individualized ways and will speak for the hundreds of generations after us in individualized ways. This is why we can read a passage in one season of our lives and extract a lesson or revelation for that time and then two years later, read the same passage and get a different message.

So what does stewardship look like practically for the materialistic blessings God gives us? It looks like keeping a clean and organized home and not a home full of hoard. It looks like getting to work every day and giving your best work instead of showing up late and half doing everything. It looks like keeping your car up to date and maintained instead of being careless and then throwing a fit because you got a ticket for driving with no insurance or registration. It looks like submitting the proper paperwork to the IRS instead of cheating the government out of taxes you know you should be paying. It looks like checking yourself before you and your spouse have tough conversations to make sure you are still remaining respectful to one another instead of saying things you don’t mean. Steward your blessings. Do we always get these things taken care of on time or get it right on the first go round? NO. Should we still be prioritizing these things? Absolutely. Why? Because God did not give you what you have just for you to do what you want with it.

When we view our blessings as multi-dimensional in purpose, I think it will be easier to adopt the mind of God and in turn steward the things we have well. For example, when you look at your car simply as the vehicle to get you to and from work, you’ll do what needs to be done for the upkeep so that you can continue to make it to work. But when you look at your car as a multidimensional blessing from God, you can began fashioning your prayers about what else he’d like you to use it for in addition to you getting back and forth to work. God has plans (plural), and his thoughts are higher than ours. We HAVE to ask God about why he’s given us these things and not just assume that they are only meant to serve one purpose in our lives.

One mistake my husband and I recently had to repent for was misusing a blessing that God gave us because when we got it, we did not ask him how he’d like for us to go about using it. We took the money we made from the blessing and did what we thought was smart to do. Well, it backfired a couple of months later and we had to check ourselves. In our confusion, we had a brief conversation with one another and then we felt like God was speaking to us and gave us the real plan for where we needed to direct our earnings. We pivoted and now we are in position to see great things come from it. Were we foolish in how we went about handling the blessing? Not entirely. We used it to bless other people for a few months…but it was foolish not to go to God and be clear about his intentions for giving us the blessing because there was no way we could have known otherwise.

When we’re stewarding well, we see growth. Growth where? Everywhere. Our lives become fuller and we experience an inward joy when we know we are pleasing God in these things. For me, I’ve been noticing positive change in my disposition toward how I’m seeing life. I don’t wake up and hate going to work as much anymore, I am excited at the opportunity to continue building relationships in the workplace because I see the opportunities that will open for me to be able to share Jesus with the people around me. I come home from work and maintain my home with an upbeat mood because I know that God didn’t have to give us this amazing home, but he did. I love on and admire my husband more because I see God loving on me through him. etc. etc.

Because I choose to see God in everything that I have, I care about protecting and preserving it. And that is what I want to leave with you all. Look at what you have in front of you and cherish it. Protect it. Preserve it. God will speak to you as you are stewarding over the things you have. The reward that comes to those who steward what God gives them will always be greater than what we can try to muster up ourselves. You may not know that you needed his joy until he blesses you with it and you see how differently life was without it. You may not think that you could make it through the year making a certain wage until you see yourself walking into the new year having experienced the God who has sustained you and your family. God’s blessings reach deeper than what man looks for. He becomes the reason people can look at you and ask, “What makes you come to work every day as if you have no worries in the world?” God becomes the reason that your character has changed and you no longer live your life in offense and bitterness. You thought taking care of your home was just something you were supposed to do…no. While you were taking care of your home, God was taking care of your heart issue. God was taking care of your brokenness. While you were outside maintaining your car, God was using you to reach your neighbor.

Stewardship. We have to see our blessings as responsibilities worthy of preserving and protecting for a greater purpose. What is repetitive and simple to us, can become life changing to the people living next to us, working beside us, living with us and for the generations to come after us. Until next time, God bless you!