Hidden message from God?

I am constantly besieged by requests for donations to various causes and most are very worthwhile. It is obvious to me that I cannot begin to meet the needs of all of the entities and people that need help with their ministries and personal lives; indeed I can hardly scratch the surface. It seems that there is not enough money in the entire world to fill this bucket.

This problem necessitates that I be an excellent manager, or as the Bible puts it, a good steward of the Lord’s money. I take this responsibility *seriously* and want to ensure that I give the Lord the most bang for His bucks. I have developed a “giving” budget and I try to stick to it as best I know how.

God has entrusted me with this sum of money and I cannot overextend myself, lest I blow it all and end up penniless, whereby I cannot do anything for the Lord. I cannot cling to it too tightly, lest I don’t earn a proper return for the Lord. I cannot invest it in “dud” projects that do not bear fruit either.

I am frustrated to no end because last year I invested a very large sum of money into a project and it has yet to bear fruit, a “dud” project if you will. Very little progress has been made on it and unless something drastic happens, none will be made anytime soon, (probably not in my lifetime).

Unfortunately I did not put any control over the project to ensure that it would be run efficiently and in a businesslike manner and I just gave the money with no strings attached. In retrospect I would have pledged the funds and not released them until certain conditions were met and dribbled them out as progress was made, (similar to a construction loan).

The leader of this entity is not a business person and is totally incompetent in business matters and in particular managing this project, and should delegate this responsibility to someone who is competent. However I believe this is out of the question for him, because after working with him on this, I am convinced that his large ego would not allow him to relinquish even a smidgen of his control because it seems to be very precious to him.

He has ignored offers of advice from me and others who have demonstrated that they are adept in business matters. His refusal of advice is not an overt act, rather he smiles and nods agreement during the meetings when we talk about what needs to be accomplished next, but then he takes no action and the project languishes and the Lord’s money sits idly

Sigh This investment left a big hole in my budget and it will take a lot of time to build back up. I cannot help but think if I would have been more careful, those funds would be resulting in lives being saved for eternity as this is being written.

I am not such a great manager for the Lord, but maybe you can be. Don’t make the same mistake that I made. Invest your gifts to the Lord wisely. Do some research and homework and make sure that it will be put to use and not be squandered. Pledge your contribution and then demand that controls be put in place or find another cause. Trust me there are so many out there that it is literally mind-boggling.

This is obviously very disheartening to me. I have prayed about it, but so far the results are dismal. My flesh seems to think that what is necessary is for me to address the problem by wielding a baseball bat and thumping this guy’s head with it Hmmm Do you think that might work? No, surely that must be my flesh urging me to sin. The Spirit wants me to pray for this man.

Ok I found the verse below; however now I am really perplexed as to what the Lord’s will is in this matter. Read the last part. “Knocks?” As in a baseball bat knock???? Naw.. Couldn’t be. Could it?

Luke 11:10
For everyone who asks receives,
and he who seeks finds, and to him
who knocks it will be opened.