A Clenched Fist
For
the past few days I have had a vision of a closed fist!
At
first I thought it was symbolic of our giving but there is more to it than
that. As a nation we British do not give well. As individual churches we seem
to give even less. That is a closed hand. Yet a closed hand can so easily turn
into a clenched fist and we need to be careful we don’t shake that fist at God.
As
Christians we tend to assign almost everything to God, including both good and
bad. But when we assume that He is responsible for everything, we can start to
blame Him. That’s when the hand turns into a fist and we shake our fist at God.
That’s when our giving starts to drop – that’s when our tithe is minimised and
that’s when our giving becomes legalistic rather than cheerful and willing. Legalism
is one of the most fertile growing grounds for discontent and resentment. Yes,
we sometimes resent giving to God but we do so grudgingly and resentfully.
I
believe the Lord is showing me that we need to pray against a spirit of ‘legal
giving’ in order to see the fists unclench, unrolled and become hands held out
in praise and adoration of the goodness of our God.
Then
we may see the Lord move in our midst.
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