This week is the last in my five-week meditation on stewardship. In this final column we will look at our gifts to our Father as a sign of our confidence in him and contentment through him. This is summed up above: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and a right relationship with him, and all else will be given you besides." In other words, put God first and your faith and trust entirely in him, and he will make sure that all of your needs are met.

What does "seek ye first the kingdom of God" mean when it comes to stewardship? It means trusting in God to make sure that your needs are met by giving to him first, regardless of whatever else you may need, or think you need. It means accepting your role as a member of our heavenly Father’s family, as a child of God, and living a life focused on that family. If we can cultivate this relationship with God, if we can revel in the joy of being called one of his children, not only will we enjoy the rewards of God’s love, but we will also fulfill our responsibilities and obligations to our Father with love and because of love.

God is our Father; he loves us, cares for us, and looks after our needs, as does any good parent. As often as we pray the Lord’s Prayer, the Our Father, we ask him to "give us this day our daily bread." We look to him to take care of us, watch over us. We trust him. But what is the extent of this trust? How deep within us does it go? Do we trust him as little children trust their parents to always be there and attend to their true needs? Or are we skeptical? Do we hedge our bets, saying, "I think that God will see me through this situation, but just in case, I’ll do this or that."

When I look for examples of complete and utter trust, I need look no further than my oldest son, Charles. When he was about one and a half, I taught him to freefall the stairs into my arms. He found this to be exhilarating and indeed, over a year later, still does. He so enjoys it, as a matter of fact, that he sometimes tries to fly from the stairs when whoever is at the bottom is not expecting it, simply trusting that he will be caught. The first time he surprised me with a jump I barely caught him in time, and I have now learned to always be ready. What struck me at the time he did this when I was not watching, (and fortunately, what didn’t strike him) was the complete, undoubting trust he had in me to catch him. He simply assumed that his daddy would be there to catch him (Isn’t that what a daddy is for?), and because of this trust and the damage he could do to himself, I cannot let him down.

Well, we are to have this same trust in God. And although I might sometime in the future fail to catch my son, God can never fail to be there for us. It is ontologically, metaphysically, theologically, philosophically, absolutely impossible for God to fail us. It cannot happen, not even if he wanted to be faithless. What can happen, however, is that we can keep ourselves from being caught. Our sins, tepidity, and especially our doubts, can block his readiness to provide, protect and preserve us. God stands before us, eager, his hands outstretched to catch us—to give to us a share of his bounty. As Paul says in his letter to James, "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you" (Jn. 4:8). Unless we come to him in a spirit of childlike trust we will be unable to accept what he offers because our eyes are closed and our hands are shut tight.

There are several points to note. First, God is in control of the entire situation from first to last, although not all of the people involved know it at the time. It is God who sends Elijah to the widow, and it is through God that Elijah can give her the promise of a continuous supply of food. The widow has to take it on faith that Elijah is right and that God will provide for her. Second, the order in which the food is given out is important. Elijah tells her to give food to himself first and then to make something for herself and her son. He doesn’t simply offer to eat whatever little bit is left after they have eaten what they need or want. This is not because he is greedy, or uncompassionate, or simply ravenously hungry. Rather, by giving food first to Elijah, God’s servant and prophet, the widow is able to acknowledge and act upon her faith in God and his promise to provide for her needs.

Finally, recall that Elijah goes to a poor widow with a small child, not to a farmer, or an inn-keeper, or a wealthy ruler of the land. God sends his servant to someone on the very bottom of the social ladder. This woman had no one—no one on Earth at least—no take care of herself, her son, and their needs. She needs every scrap of food at hand, for she has not the ability to go out easily and get more. Yet it is from her that Elijah asks assistance. Even the poorest of the poor are asked to put their faith in God’s giving grace, in God’s promise to attend to all our needs, and thus to give him all of what we have, trusting that he will return to us all we really need. Therefore, not one of us, if we truly do trust in God, can say "I don’t have enough money as it is; I can’t afford to give, or to give more, to the church." If we put God first, if we seek his kingdom first, all else will be given to us.

Thus, a vital step toward seeking first the kingdom of God, of not only saying, but acting in the belief that God will provide, is to trust him completely with your resources. It is putting him first, making him the #1 priority on your to-do list. It is finding confidence in the dependability of the only Father who is truly worthy of our trust. Please consider this in your pledge of time and treasure this year.

Although this is the end of the five-week series on stewardship, I will be continuing shorter stewardship columns in our bulletin, plus quarterly stewardship letters that you will receive in the mail.