The trip that tested faith

If someone told you that you could invest your money and get a guaranteed return, would you take the deal? Most of us would jump at it without a second thought.

The apostle Paul offers exactly that kind of promise in Philippians 4:17 — but he isn’t talking about earthly investing at all. He’s talking about storing up treasures in heaven.

Writing to the church at Philippi, Paul thanks them for the financial support, even from his earliest days in ministry. “Not that I desire your gifts,” he writes. “What I desire is that more be credited to your account.”

It is worth reading that verse in its fuller context, verses 15-19, where Paul makes clear he is not fishing for another gift. He is pointing to something bigger than his own need — their spiritual account, not his bank account.

That distinction matters, because it is easy to hear a message about generosity and assume it is just a fundraising pitch. It isn’t. Scripture is clear that God does not need our money.

Psalm 50 says He owns the cattle on a thousand hills and everything in the world besides. He is never short on resources.

So, if God doesn’t need our generosity, why does He command it?

Because the point of giving was never to fund God — it is to grow us. Giving is training for trust. It moves our hearts from self-reliance toward God-reliance. That’s a question worth asking ourselves often: When I make a plan, when I save, when I hold something back, am I relying on myself, or am I relying on Him?

Here’s what’s easy to miss: withholding isn’t neutral. When we decide not to give to “play it safe,” we may be closing a door that God wanted to open for us. Malachi 3:10 is the only place in Scripture where God says, “Test me,” and it is tied directly to giving. That tells us something.

Giving was never meant to be a transaction with God, like a coin dropped into a machine. It’s an invitation for Him to move in ways we could never orchestrate ourselves. It is not about the gift leaving your hand. It is about what gets credited to your account.

I saw this play out recently in my own family. My son had committed to a mission trip to Scotland with his church’s young adult group.

It was a trip that would put him among 3,000 students from across the country. As the fundraising deadline approached, he was still more than $2,000 short. His solution seemed reasonable enough: use his own tithe money to cover the gap.

It was understandable logic. But it was also a shortcut around trust.

He felt convicted, so he gave his tithe to his church anyway, with no plan for how the rest of the trip would be funded. Within two days, four different families, completely unprompted and with no idea he was even short, gave a combined total of more than $2,000.

God did not need that tithe, but my son needed the faith exercise of giving it. And God moved through people he had no way of reaching on his own.

So here’s the question worth asking: Where are you tempted to hold back — a tithe, an offering, generosity toward a kingdom cause — simply because you think you need it more right now?

It was never about earning God’s blessing. It’s about positioning ourselves to see Him move in ways we simply cannot manufacture on our own.

This week, consider giving something specific to a kingdom cause (like Golden Offering for Tennessee Missions), not because God needs it, but because your faith needs the exercise. And as you do, ask Him to grow not just your generosity but your trust. B&R