Ticket Sales, Horses, Chariots or the Name of the Lord?

Lord, help me sort out "important" vs. "urgent." I am very concerned about ticket sales for the Gala. I've done everything I know to do and yet sales are slow. Help me rest in You, trust You with the results of our hard work.

This was my journal entry ten days before the MARKINC Ministries Grand Dessert Gala and Mark Schultz Concert. I was worried. None of us had a good feeling about the fundraising aspects of the event. The faltering economy in our region had hit us hard, just as it had hit hard many other non-profit organizations. We had cut our budget everywhere possible and I fully expected we would need to cut even more. Yet, the requests for our resources were growing, not diminishing. While I was worried, I also expected God to use the success or failure of the fundraising of this event to guide our future vision. As I wrote up our program for the night, I included the vision of distributing 50,000 Learning to See When the Lights Go Out CDs free of charge. We need $200,000 to accomplish this goal. This goal is $80,000 higher than any other year. In addition to funds raised at the event, we are also approaching funders for grants. If we were to even come close to achieving this distribution, God had a lot of work cut out for Himself!

After recording that prayer in my journal, I turned to Psalm 20 (since it was April 20). This scripture is a prayer for King David just before he was going out to battle against a powerful enemy. His people add their prayers to his. As I read, I concluded this was God's direct response to my worrisome heart. My translation:

May God answer me. Send me help from the sanctuary, the church. May He send me help from Zion, heaven itself. May He give me the desire of my heart. May my heart (emotions, thoughts, motivations, and actions) desire only His glory. May all my plans succeed, only if they satisfy His glory. Are my plans really Yours? Some trust in chariots (hard work) and some in horses (lots of people attending the event) but I will trust in the name of the Lord and His purposes. I know we're in a spiritual war for the hearts of broken people. Proverbs teaches me to make plans by seeking advice; and that if I wage war, to obtain guidance (Proverbs 20:8). Yet with all that advice seeking and planning, I know I haven't done everything right. Our resources are so limited. At some point, I have to accept we've done all we can humanly do. Luke 14:31 - 32 reminds me to count the cost of war and when outnumbered to seek peace, to negotiate. We're outnumbered but we will not negotiate with the enemy. I surrender to my limitations and trust You to stand in the gap. I've made many mistakes and forgotten important tasks. But Lord, you are the mover of hearts. So I must rest in You and Your power. Whatever happens at the event is in Your hands.

Someone has said that worry is taking on responsibility that God never intended you to have. Sometimes I have trouble determining when I am worrying and when I am being diligent. I was definitely worrying while being diligent in this case! This Psalm confronted me with the worry part and God gave me freedom from the stress as I verbalized my repentance and embraced confidence that no matter what happened through this event, God was responsible. If we didn't raise a lot of money, that meant we needed to re-evaluate our vision in the context of God's provisions.

I'm so glad that for the next ten days I continued to work hard but without worry. Because if I hadn't I would have to accept how much energy I wasted on worry that was misplaced. God moved hearts at the Gala in a way that we could not. Guests gave and/or pledged over $135,000 through the message of this night. That is more than we have ever raised in one event.

We believe that money is the least of God's worries though it certainly is on the top of the list for ministries. God uses money to confirm a vision or a missionary's call to a foreign field. We believe that if God is in a vision then He has already given funds to His people for that vision. People just need to hear Him when He reminds them that the money doesn't belong to them, they are simply keeping it safe until time to give it to the ministry for which He earmarked it.

I'm so grateful to those who listened on Friday night! And I've shared with so many people the story of Psalm 20, that when facing an enemy with what appears to be an overpowering army, I'm learning to trust not in horses and chariots but in the name of the Lord. What horses and chariots are you depending on? Can they really accomplish what only God can do?

In His Grip,
Sharon