Genesis 30:30-34 “For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the Lord has blessed you since my coming. And now, when shall I also provide for my own house?" (31) So, he said, "What shall I give you?" And Jacob said, "You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your flocks: (32) Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and these shall be my wages. (33) So, my righteousness will answer for me in time to come, when the subject of my wages comes before you: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the lambs, will be considered stolen, if it is with me." (34) And Laban said, "Oh that it were according to your word!”
So what about those who are themselves employers, i.e. those who own their own businesses? In these instances God is able to give us favour with those who are able to assist us with the capital we need to start and grow our businesses. In the above quoted passage of scripture we see the account of the start-up of Jacob’s own business. Up until this time Jacob had been working for Laban as an employee, and God had blessed Laban because Jacob worked for him. And so Jacob now wanted to start his own business, and he made a business proposal to Laban. Because God gave Jacob favour with Laban, he readily agreed to Jacob’s proposal. The essence of Jacob’s proposal was that he would remove all the speckled and spotted and brown, goats and sheep from Laban’s herds, and it was those that Jacob would use as start-up capital for his own business. Obviously there were very few speckled and spotted and brown, goats and sheep in Laban’s flocks at the time, which is why he was so eager to agree to Jacob’s proposal. Nevertheless, God had given Jacob favour with Laban, who in turn supplied Jacob with the start-up capital he needed to start his own business.
Genesis 30:40-43 “Then Jacob separated the lambs and made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the brown in the flock of Laban; but he put his own flocks by themselves and did not put them with Laban's flock. (41) And it came to pass, whenever the stronger livestock conceived, that Jacob placed the rods before the eyes of the livestock in the gutters that they might conceive among the rods. (42) But when the flocks were feeble, he did not put them in; so, the feebler were Laban's and the stronger Jacob's. (43) Thus, the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks, female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.”
Genesis 31:10-12 “And it happened, at the time when the flocks conceived, that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted. (11) Then the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, 'Jacob.' And I said, 'Here I am.' (12) And He said, 'Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.”
There is another aspect to the way that God makes His grace abound toward us in the area of finances, and that is in the area of creative ideas that He gives us. In the first passage of scripture quoted above we see the business practice that Jacob implemented to grow his business. And so as a result of Jacob implementing that business idea, he grew his business from the start-up capital that Laban had originally given him into a business that made him exceedingly prosperous. It is in the second passage of scripture quoted however, that God reveals to us where Jacob received his idea for his business to succeed. God had given Jacob his idea in a dream and as a result of Jacob implementing that idea, God enabled his business to grow and through which he became exceedingly prosperous.
Genesis 24:35 “The Lord has blessed my master greatly, and he has become great; and He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.”
For those of us who already have businesses that are in operation, God is able to make all grace abound toward us in our business operations. What that means is that God is able to give us favour in the marketplace so that our businesses will continue to grow and prosper. As an example, in the above quoted passage of scripture Abraham’s chief steward was relating to Laban and Bethuel, just how much God had prospered Abraham’s business over the years.
Job 42:10-12 “And the Lord restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed, the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. (11) Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his acquaintances before, came to him and ate food with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversity that the Lord had brought upon him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and each a ring of gold. (12) Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys.”
It is not uncommon in the body of Christ for one at some point in their walk with the Lord, to lose everything that they have. I am not referring to those who voluntarily give up all for the kingdom of God as they follow the Lord in the calling that He places upon their lives. I am referring to those who lose everything as a result of external factors impacting on their lives, and not as a result of their own actions. We do not always understand the reasons for this happening, only the Lord does. In the above quoted passage of scripture we have the account of when Job lost everything, and at the end of his ordeal God caused everyone that Job knew to take up a collection for him, which resulted in Job having sufficient start-up capital to start a new business. God then blessed Job abundantly, so much so, that God restored all of Job’s loses, and in fact God gave him twice as much as he had before.
2 Kings 4:1-7 “A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves." (2) So, Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?" And she said, "Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil." (3) Then he said, "Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbours--empty vessels; do not gather just a few. (4) And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels and set aside the full ones." (5) So, she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. (6) Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, "Bring me another vessel." And he said to her, "There is not another vessel." So, the oil ceased. (7) Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest."
All of the examples of God’s blessing that we have looked at in this section are supernatural, for it was God who caused the individuals to be blessed. But although all the examples were supernatural, not all were spectacular. So what do I mean by that statement? The above account in scripture is an example how God can also bless His saints in not only a supernatural way, but also in a spectacular way. The context of the above passage is that one of the prophets that worked with Elisha had passed away, and he had left his wife and sons without any means of support and a large amount of debt. The prophet’s wife had come to Elisha to ask him to assist them, and so God worked a spectacular miracle through His prophet Elisha. For God multiplied the oil she had to the point that she was able to pay off all her debt, and live off the balance of the proceeds for the rest of her life. Although this example is not the normal way in which God supplies our needs, nevertheless it shows us that He is well able to do spectacular miracles when the need arises. And so in this section I have endeavoured to list the most common financial scenarios that can occur in our lives. And in each scenario I have given a biblical example of how God blessed His saints financially and caused them to prosper. Although I have only given one example in each case, there are many other accounts in scripture that could be quoted in each case to support the truth that God is able to bless us no matter what financial condition we may find ourselves in. And so through the above examples and the passages of scripture quoted earlier, we can clearly see that God is more than able to make all grace abound toward us so that not only are all of our needs met, but we will also have more than enough so that we can help others who are themselves in need.
Michael E.B. Maher
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