Who raises your support?

Who defeated Goliath?

Then David said to [Goliath], "You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head." (1 Samuel 17:45-46a ESV)

Who sold Joseph into slavery?

Joseph said to [his brothers], "Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today." (Genesis 50:19-20 ESV)

Who killed Jesus?

"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know - this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men." (Acts 2:22-23 ESV)

Who is responsible for your sanctification?

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12-13 ESV)

Who raises your support?

More than you can handle

Not too long ago I was sharing with a Christian friend about a fundraising-related struggle I was having. In an effort to encourage me, he shared, "Don't worry! God doesn't give you more than you can handle."

My friend was trying to be helpful, so I didn't say anything to that at the time. What I thought, however, was this:

Uh, yeah He does.

Like the mythical verse about "God helping those who help themselves", the whole "God doesn't give you more than you can handle" thing is completely made up. Moreover, both those statements are dangerous because the truth is the exact opposite!

God does give you more than you can handle. He does so so that we can look back on the situation and know with certainty that God was the One who did it - not ourselves. This is especially important in the realm of fundraising: if you enter into fundraising thinking you can handle it, you're going to either crash and burn quickly, or worse yet, have a ministry that looks stunningly similar to that of the Pharisees.

I just read the story of David and Goliath to my 3-year old a few nights ago. As he looked at the picture of the young shepherd standing over the body of the giant, he asked, "Daddy, how come that little rock knock down that biiiiig guy?" I was delighted - that's the exact question God intends us to ask! God had very clearly given David (and all Israel) more than he could handle. How could a few rocks take down an enormous, armor-plated warrior? The answer, of course, is that they couldn't. But God could. And He did.

Indeed, one of the greatest truths of the Bible is that God gives us more than we can handle. This causes us to remain humbly dependent on the One on whom we were meant to be humbly dependent. (A parallel truth is that God doesn't help those who help themselves... He helps those who can't help themselves!) The world calls this foolishness or even slavery. Christians know, however, that there is nothing wiser or more freeing than fulfilling our created purpose: to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.

What faith looks like

Years ago I spoke with a missionary whose fundraising wasn't going very well. Keeping Proverbs 18:2 and 18:13 in mind, I asked questions to try to understand her situation. In doing so, it sounded like she had a lot of the basics down and had a winsome personality to boot. So at first I was having a hard time identifying what might be the source of her trouble.

Then I asked about how she planned fundraising trips (since her support team was spread out over many states.) She said, "Oh, I don’t plan support trips, really. I just do it all by faith. I ask God where I should go and then I show up and see what He does."

That surprised me a bit and I wrestled through that idea for many weeks afterward. What she called faith some might call foolishness. Yet the Scriptures also say:

God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (1 Corinthians 1:27-29 ESV)

So which is it? Did my friend have great faith or was she missing something?

My first conclusion is that I don't know. There are many times when I've been certain that someone was acting out of fear instead of faith when it actually turned out to be quite different than I'd thought. So I try to be much slower to make that judgment now.

However, I was helped greatly in my thinking on this point when I noticed a seemingly small detail in one of my favorite Scripture passages:

And David said, "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." And Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you!" . . . Then [David] took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. (1 Samuel 17:37,40 ESV)

David, the faithful hero-shepherd who had a heart after God's own and from whose line the Christ would come, picked up five stones. Why did he do that?

I have heard it said that it was because of Goliath's relatives (mentioned in 2 Samuel 21.19-22). This theory says that David expected retribution from those relatives should he defeat Goliath and thus he came prepared with extra ammo. That's a reasonable explanation, though it is noteworthy that the author of 1 Samuel 17 doesn't mention these relatives at all in that passage.

A better reason for having five stones, I think, is simply that David expected that he might need them. There can be no doubt that David expected the Lord to win the battle (1 Sam 17:46), but he did not necessarily expect that it would be easy. He was already working from Plan B, since Plan A involved wearing Saul's armor that hadn't fit well. Those extra rocks were most likely Plan C.

We can thus learn a few things about faith from this passage:

• Faith doesn't assume you get it all right the first time. Rather, it hopes in Someone who does. "Your heavenly Father is perfect." (Mt 5:48)
• Faith doesn't assume that things will be easy. Rather, it trusts in a yoke that is. (Mt 11:30)
• Faith doesn't assume that you will be victorious. Rather, it looks to Him who is (Rev 19:11-21; cf. 1 Sam 17:44,46)

I might therefore conclude that perhaps my friend does have great faith - indeed, greater than mine - yet Biblical faith is an informed faith and a faith that calls us to action. If I were to speak with her again, I'd commend her trust in the Lord but still suggest that she set aside more time for planning.

I suggest the same thing for you and I!

God has already planned it

When Adam and Eve brought onto themselves the curses of sin at Eden, God had already planned that the woman's seed would crush the head of the serpent. (Genesis 3:15)

When Joseph's brothers delivered him into slavery in Egypt, God had already planned that he would save countless lives through the great famine. (Genesis 50:20)

When Israel found themselves trapped by the Egyptians with their back to the Red Sea, God had already planned a miracle He'd refer back to all throughout the Bible. (Exodus 14:13)

When Saul disqualified himself from kingship at Gilgal, God had already planned to anoint a greater king after His own heart. (1 Samuel 13:14)

When Naomi was left without a husband or sons, God had already planned that the Messiah would come through her family. (Ruth 4:17)

When Lazarus grew ill and died, God had already planned that His disciples would believe in Him as a result. (John 11:14)

When Jesus was taken prisoner and sentenced to crucifixion, God had already planned to bring about the salvation of mankind. (Acts 2:23)

When Jesus departed this world and left His frightened disciples behind, He had already planned that the gospel would penetrate to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

When a murderer was on his way to claim the life of more Christians, God had already planned to bring salvation to the Gentiles through him. (Acts 9:15)

When you were still in the grasp of the devil, God had already planned good works for you to accomplish. (Ephesians 2:10)

When all the armies of the earth gather together to finally destroy Christianity, God has already planned to demonstrate His sovereignty with absolute victory. (Revelation 20:9)

Perhaps you are feeling like your fundraising (or life!) isn't going according to your plan right now. If so, don't worry...

God has already planned something glorious to come from it.

Jonathan's very dumb plan

In 1 Samuel 14 we find a good man making what seems to be a very dumb plan.

The situation can be summarized like this: the Philistines (the bad guys) came up against Israel (the good guys) with thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops such that they numbered "like the sand on the seashore in multitude." (13:5) Israel, on the other hand, had a whopping 600 guys, none of whom were armed except Saul and Jonathan (the good guys' bad commander and his son). Needless to say, this situation wasn't looking so good for the good guys.

Thankfully, Jonathan seems to be a good man who has faith in God. So in 1 Samuel 14 he has a short conversation with his armor-bearer that goes something like this:

Jonathan: "Let's go get the Philistines cause God might do something awesome!"

Armor-Bearer: "Yeah! Follow your heart! I'm in!"

Jonathan: "Okay, here's the plan: we'll go stand out in the open. We'll then do whatever they say - and if they tell us come over so they can hurt us, we'll know God will defeat them!"

Riiiiiight. Am I the only one who thinks that sounds like a really a dumb plan?

Please understand that I mean no disrespect to Jonathan. He's one of the bright shining lights in the Scriptures and you'd be hard-pressed not to like him. Besides, I can't argue with the results: it happens just like he suspected it would. He and his armor-bearer kill a bunch of guys, God causes an earthquake that completely freaks the Philistines out, and all of Israel (even the really scared ones) rush after the Philistines to finish them off. Oh, and in the midst of the confusion the Philistines even start killing one another. Bonus.

Still, can you imagine someone running Jonathan's plan by a military general? They'd laugh you out of the room, if not lock you up in an institution. (Perhaps that's why Jonathan didn't even tell anyone besides his armor-bearer until afterwards!) And honestly, what would YOU have thought of that plan? Would you have agreed to it as his armor-bearer did?

On the surface, Jonathan's plan seems ridiculous. It sounds naive, short-sighted, unwise and possibly insane. This is a hopeless mission. Shouldn't he let Israel's military experts handle this one? Why would he throw away his life? Besides, the people he's trying to rescue with this mission sure won't help him - they're terrified and ill-equipped. They may even turn on him in the end.

If we peek below the surface, however, we see a tremendous heart of faith. Perhaps he didn't have all the details worked out, but he was absolutely confident that God did. He wasn't exactly sure how God would provide, but he knew with certainty that He would. This is what inspires his armor-bearer back then and us still today.

Now, you might be wondering why I'm talking so much about Jonathan in a blog about fundraising. Here's why: your fundraising looks a lot like Jonathan's battle plan.

On the surface, your plan seems ridiculous. It sounds naive, short-sighted, unwise and possibly insane. Fundraising is a hopeless mission. Shouldn't you let the fundraising experts handle this one? Why would you throw away your life? Besides, the people you're trying to rescue with your mission sure won't help you - they're terrified and ill-equipped. They may even turn on you in the end.

If we peek below the surface, however, we see a tremendous heart of faith. You don't have all the details of fundraising worked out, but you're absolutely confident that God does. You're not exactly sure how God will provide, but you know with certainty that He will. This is what inspires your donors today and those you'll be reaching with the gospel in the days to come.

But maybe that last paragraph doesn't quite describe you. Maybe your confidence in God waivers. Maybe you feel scared more than you feel faithful. You needn't worry, and here's why: your fundraising looks a lot like Jesus's battle plan.

On the surface, Jesus's plan seemed ridiculous. It sounded naive, short-sighted, unwise and possibly insane. It was a hopeless mission. Shouldn't He have let the religious experts handle this one? Why would He throw away His life? Besides, the people He's trying to rescue with this mission sure won't help Him - they're terrified and ill-equipped. They even turned on Him in the end.

If we peek below the surface, however, we see a tremendous heart of faith. Perhaps He didn't have all the details worked out, but He was absolutely confident that His Father did (Mt 24:36). He wasn't exactly sure how God would provide, but He knew with certainty that He would (Mt 26:39). In His case, however, His mission did far more than inspire us. His mission is what saved us, His mission is what continues to save us and His mission is what will one day save us.

That's the gospel, and that's your hope in fundraising. It's okay if you don't have the best fundraising plan ever. Trust God and make a plan to do something.

Then go stand out in the open.

Calling delinquent donors: Part 2 - Just do something

Yesterday we looked at some fears that can lead us to avoid calling delinquent donors. Today we'll examine a familiar story that should help calm those fears.

First off, when it comes to calling delinquent donors, remember that the most likely people to give again are those who have given previously. I've found that in most cases delinquent donors have simply overlooked it and are quick to give a "catch-up" gift.

It's more important, however, to realize that the worst thing you can do is to do nothing.

Consider the familiar story of 1 Samuel 17. (If you haven't read it recently, take a moment to read it now before continuing.) Here we find the decked-out Israelite army ready for battle, but a giant named Goliath comes out twice a day for forty days (v16) and threatens them.

That's eighty times that Goliath frightened Israel into inaction! While our delinquent donor situation is somewhat less dramatic, our fears usually don't distinguish between the two situations and can easily lead us to the same inaction.

We all know what happens next. A young shepherd boy (v14-15) shows up with lunch for his brothers (v17-18), he hears Goliath's threat (v23), and then decides to do something (v32). It's not a particularly well-thought-through plan (v37), and it's actually Plan B (v40) since Plan A involved armor that didn't work well for him (v38-39).

In the end, the problem of Goliath wasn't that he was particularly difficult to defeat (v49), but that Israel had allowed their fears of what might happen to keep them from rationally realizing the truth that David saw:

Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hand." (1 Samuel 17:45-47 ESV)

In other words, Israel did a lot of nothing (unless you count cowering) for forty days. The alternative that David proposed was doing something, even if that something was not particularly thought-through. The key wasn't that David had a plan fully figured out, but that He put his hope in the right Commander.

If the battle is the LORD's, how much more is our fundraising?

If a stone can slay a giant, how much must we fear a phone call?

But let's take this one step further. Many years later, another Man stepped forward to rescue a fearful people from another giant named Sin. And unlike the shepherd we read about in 1 Samuel, when this Shepherd rushed into the battle, God gave Him into the hands of the giant.

Following the Lord faithfully doesn't always mean that Plan B works out.  It could certainly be that the fears we listed yesterday turn out to be legitimate. You may have an awkward moment or two. You may get ridiculed. You may even lose support.

But the LORD saves not with sword and spear, nor does He save with faithful monthly supporters. Rather, God saves through Jesus Christ. He is the one who rose again to defeat Sin once and for all. He is the one who will provide every dollar we need, even if it means losing some support along the way. He is the one who has risen that we need never fear again:

When I saw Him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But He laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades." (Revelation 1:17-18 ESV)

So don't listen to your fears of calling delinquent donors. Rather, confidently pick up your phone and know that a far greater battle has already been won for you. You don't even need to figure out a great plan.

You just need to do something.