An Acceptable Approach
Numbers 7:1a, 2, 4-5a
On the day when Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle and had anointed it and consecrated it … the chiefs of Israel, … approached and brought their offerings before the LORD. … Then the LORD said to Moses, “Accept these from them, that they may be used in the service of the tent of meeting.”
About an hour ago, I packed my writing gear in my truck and drove seventeen minutes down back roads till I reached the hiking trails at a rural Christian retreat center. Then, I hiked through the woods, up and down steep hills for another twenty minutes, till I finally arrived at gentle creek where I prefer to write. Next, I unfolded my lawn chair, swept away the spiders and cobwebs that had bombarded me on the way down, and sat to read Numbers 7. Ten minutes went by, then twenty, then maybe thirty, and I just sat rolling the words around in my mind like gemstones in a tumbler, praying for the LORD to smooth and soften and illumine them more through the process, but clarity just wasn’t coming. ‘It’s one of those days,’ I thought to myself. The thought morphed into a prayer: “I’m here, LORD; I’m not leaving without something. Help me give it all I’ve got—I’m just sorry it isn’t more today.”
Think of it, friend: these chieftains had no idea that their gifts on this Numbers 7 day would decorate the halls of Solomon’s dazzling temple or serve as instruments in that great awakening during the reign of King Josiah. They knew nothing of the impact their offerings would have for generations to come. And I bet they wouldn’t have believed it even if Moses had prophetically told them. But God saw what they couldn’t. His vision far exceeded theirs. And that’s what matters in the end.
Friend, whether today feels like your best day or your worst day or somewhere in the middle, you have something God values, something He can use and re-use over and over again whether you understand it or not, something that may not in the moment seem all that grand, but will, in the tumbler of His redemptive plan, emerge as a priceless treasure. So, resolve to approach God with everything you’ve got. In return, know that He resolves to accept your offering and multiply it for generations to come.