I attended a spiritual retreat/deer hunt in Illinois a few days ago. Each day I spoke to a man from Oklahoma who took me where I needed to be during the week. We struck up a conversation about the many oil pumps we would pass on the way to our destination. He could talk with the same authority about these contraptions the way I can talk about the menu at Cracker Barrel. I wondered out loud how much revenue these would provide for their owners. He could not say about the financial gain for these in Illinois, but he had an interesting story about his inlaws back home in Oklahoma.
He said that an oil company approached them about buying the oil beneath their property. They hesitated to agree upon a deal because they had developed their land with beautiful landscaping, fruit trees and a large pond. While they were aware that oil was under much of Oklahoma, they had never been told that oil was beneath their property. The oil company assured them that they could detect an oil reservoir underneath the pond. That sealed it. No matter how much the company would pay, they loved their property, especially their pond, and did not want to see it marred by oil drills and pumps.
Then the oil company offered a deal they found hard not to accept. There is evidently a technique that allows the oil company to set up a rig more than a mile away and drill horizontally underground and capture the oil without any equipment on the property itself. They accepted the deal and now thousands of dollars are automatically deposited in their bank account each month from an unseen source. Sort of like the Clampetts of Beverly Hills, they were living with access to great wealth and didn't have a clue.
Deep within every believer there is a source of wealth that many never tap. The vast wealth and resources of God's Holy Spirit resides below the surface just waiting to be called upon. We struggle financially, mentally and spiritually while we have all we need to live victoriously. Either we are unawareof such riches, or do not know how to call upon them, so we settle for the things we see and do not appropriate by faith the unseen. How often do I struggle to make diffcult decisions while neglecting the source of wisdom that resides within me? How many times have I labored about my finances when riches untold are available for my use through the Holy Spirit? Thank God from that good ole boy from Oklahoma that reminded me of a spiritual truth that I too often forget.
James 1:5-7 (NLT)
5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.
6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.
7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
Comments