Lately, I've been mulling over the definition of a steward.
Stewardship:
1.
the position and duties of a steward, a person who acts as the
surrogate of another or others, especially by managing property,
financial affairs, an estate, etc.
2. the responsible overseeing and protection of something considered worth caring for and preserving (dictionary.
The
Bible tells us that we are God's stewards. We steward everything He
gives us: clothes, money, food, property, natural resources, animals,
plants, children...everything.
I've heard two perspectives on this matter:
1.
Some people believe that we need to seek God and wait for Him to tell
us how He would have us steward the possessions He has given us.
2.
There are other people who believe that we should just choose what we
want because it's our stuff and, if there is a God, He doesn't care
about our material goods.
I think both views
are missing the point. We shouldn't have to ask God how to steward what
He has given us because He's already told us in the Bible. God
wants us to make good decisions with the things that He places into our
care. He wants our decisions to bring about fruitfulness and abundant
provisions for us and our families. Read the Parable of the Talents in
Matthew 25:14-30. The master does not tell the servants what to do with
his money. They decide themselves what to do. The first 2 men go and
trade the money and make double what they are given. The third man gets
scared and hides the money he is given in the ground. His master calls
him wicked and slothful for doing so.
Let
me be clear about something: He entrusts US with the decision making
because He *wants* us to choose. I believe it is very legalistic to tie
ourselves to the belief that we HAVE to wait to hear from God on every
single decision that comes up in life. While I think that seeking God's
will is important, we cannot hide behind this belief like some kind of
life-preserver. God does not want us to put our lives on hold during a
decision making session simply because we have not heard from Him. He
has given us the FREEDOM to decide what to do and how to do things in
our lives, and sometimes He's waiting for US to ACT because He plans to
reward us for our faith to act (even without exact instructions).
Another
thing we should remember is that He has given us the grace to find
freedom in being able to escape the legalistic views. He is not a
legalistic God. He is an abundantly gracious and merciful God. He
wants us to be free to make our own decisions. No matter what we
choose, He will use our choices for our good. We need only to believe
that if we act as good stewards and recognize that we need to make a
certain decision, it would be right and wise to make that decision, even
if we don't hear from God about it. We don't need to hear from God in
order to make a decision. There are going to be decisions in our lives
that we will have to make, no matter how much or how little we pray.
Sitting around "waiting" for God when we should be acting is not
pleasing to God. He is not going to come down out of Heaven and tell us
everything He wants us to do. He entrusted us, as stewards, with the
ability to think and act on our own accord for the benefit of us and our
families. To neglect that responsibility is shameful and may even be
considered sinful, as James says in 4:17: "So whoever knows the right
thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin." If you know that a
decision is the right thing to do, do not remain captive to the belief
that you must hear from God about it. Do what is right in the eyes of
the Lord: make the decision yourself.
