How often do you find yourself doing a good deed for someone and then, as your walking away, you realize that the one you helped probably doesn't even know your a Christian? The reason that they are oblivious to this fact is because you have forgotten to give God the credit that is due Him. Let's talk just a couple of minutes today about this subject because I think it can be a very practical one.
Here we can find a very good example of someone giving the credit to God even when by all appearances it looks as if they are of their own accord doing some good. Just a number of days before all this Moses had come to the people telling how they were going to get out of Egypt. It was Moses along with Aaron that the people saw in the presence of Pharaoh arguing over their release. It was Moses I’m sure that Pharaoh probably came to immediately to say “Get these people out of here.” It was surely Moses who led the people out. He could have very easily let pride get the best of him and take the credit for this extremely bountiful gift that had been given to the people. But the first record we have of Moses speaking to the people as a whole once they have left the land, is one dedicated to giving only God the credit.
Now let’s compare this to a little incident concerning Moses where he failed to give God His due. Numbers 20:10-12, “Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?" And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”
Do you see the problem with Moses has just done? Yes if you read back to the verse before this you find that he was supposed to talk to the rock and he blatantly disobeys God in this way but there’s something even more going on here as well. Look at his words to the people- “Shall WE bring water for you out of this rock?” Shall Aaron and I give you water? Where’s God in that? He’s not. He doesn’t give God the credit. Why? Maybe it’s because the people are blaming Him for their situation. Back in verse 4 we see their complaint against Moses, “Why have YOU brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die here?” Now Moses is retaliating, saying “Ok fine, I brought you out here, but not die to. Look here, I’m even gonna give you some water to prove it.” Or perhaps he has other motivation for taking the credit but whatever the case we know that this is an issue to God. Verse 12 says, “And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not believe in ME, to uphold ME as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.’”
What did Moses do so differently here when he neglected to give God the credit from when he honored God with the due given Him for leading the people out of Egypt? The answer lies in the way he used his words.
The same applies to us. When we allow ourselves to be used by God to help other people the way we let them know that it wasn’t because of us is by using our words. It’s a very simple answer but it takes some doing and some conscious effort on our part to make a habit out of saying the right words that give God the credit.
This means when someone asks you for help what should your answer be? “Sure I’ll be glad to help you.” Nope. Remember we want to put the emphasis on Him and not us. So instead try “Sure I’ll be glad to help you because the LORD has given me the ability to.” Or perhaps another way to say it might be, “I don’t know how much help I could be by myself, but because of the grace of God I have the heart and the means. So what do you need?” Get creative with it and simply be truthful. The fact of the matter is without God we wouldn’t have anything to offer. Not only that but we wouldn’t have the motivation to offer without the love of God in our hearts. We know it’s true. Just make sure to remember to vocalize it in some way to the one you help because they may not be aware of this simple truth.
I know for me, whenever someone thanks me for something, especially when it isn’t even really me giving it, but usually the church is through me, I always to respond appropriately. They’ll of course say something like, “Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.” And then I’ll usually say something like, “Oh it’s not me who needs thanks, I really didn’t do anything. This is a gift from a bunch of people united by Jesus. And the only reason they have pooled it together to use like this is because of the love Jesus has given to them.”
So it’s really pretty simple to give God the credit in these kind of things. All it takes is getting the right mindset, acknowledging that he is in fact using you. And then working on using the proper vocabulary to express that fact, a habitual practice.
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