"Earthly Wisdom"

 "If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation." (John 11:48 KJV)

  "The fears of the wicked will be fulfilled; the hopes of the godly will be granted." (Proverbs 10:24 NLT)

 I really hope that you understood the message that was being put forth from the last two days, because the point I was trying to make was that we must draw closer to God, not away, when we are being tested or silenced in our calling or duty towards God. What we must do, regardless of the way things might appear, is to do what we feel pleases God, not what pleases men! 

 Oddly enough, this thing that they feared to happen, did happen anyway. It really didn't matter what they were going to do, because the story had already been written, long before they even started to worry about it, the ball was already in motion. Besides, this was all part of the plan that God had ordained to take place; even if they might have had a change of heart, it would have only been a temporary change, as it was for God's purposes that were going to have Jesus placed upon the cross. 

 Here is a little pickle to chew on, if you would like to see how this thing I have been going through is going, and whether or not it has stopped being such a challenge to adjust to. On the one hand, it has been amazingly awesome, as I anticipated that it would; on the other hand, I discovered yesterday evening that there was one small glitch in my plan. It appears that I have one job that I was paid for early, which has already been spent, an $8,800 job, that we have just about finished. 

 Actually, all that is left, is for me to go up there and treat it, but right now, the place is covered in snow. As it was, until yesterday, this week's total actual receipts were a messily $2,100, but I was hoping that they would exceed at least $3,800. Yesterday morning I had a call from my mother-in-law that we had only received $350 in the mail; and I told her that I wasn't going to total out the week yet, because the day was not over yet. I said, "Someone might come by the house and drop off a check." 

 Well, that is exactly what happened! Someone came by and dropped off a check for $3,140, even though they only owed $2,990; they did not realize the Inspection fee had already been paid. After I returned home from the memorial service in Lodi, (which by the way, was at one of the most awesome Pest Control offices I have ever imagined could exist,) I opened the mail on my desk and found another $35 check. 

 So then I began totally up all that I had received, both personally and professionally, which was over $6,760 from the week; however, my actual sales only totaled $1,900. So, if I was going to tithe from my previous way of calculating my income, the sales as well as the personal money I received all week, would only have totaled about $3,160. However, I usually never right a tithe check for less than $500. 

 Okay, now the pickle! A $680 check was what I was planning to write, which really wouldn't have been such a big deal. But then I glanced up at my weekly sales calendar, noticed that the week was very slim, and I imagined what it would look like if I had included the job that still needed to be spayed. And then I realized it was already paid! 

 I don't really know if you followed all of that or not, but my tithe check amount wasn't enough! According to my previous way of doing things, that job would have not been counted towards my tithe accounting until it was done and posted on my sales calendar, which hasn't happened yet; but I am no longer tithing based upon sales but based upon actual revenue received.

 There you have it! Do I write a check that I can afford to write, the $680 messily amount, or do I write a check that I should, for $1,560? What do we! Is really not a question that needs to be asked! We do what God expects us to do; and we do it cheerfully...

 "Then Nebuchadnezzar flew into a rage and ordered that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought before him. When they were brought in, Nebuchadnezzar said to them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I have set up? I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments. But if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. And then what god will be able to rescue you from my power?"  

 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn't, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up."" (Daniel 3:13-18 NLT)