God Doesn't Do Excuses

I started out with zero money and a $2000 budget, feeling like I shouldn't write letters to raise money. I'm not against people that do, I just wanted to ask God, let it be known that I was going, and trust that He would strut His stuff. He didn't disappoint.

On May 22, I had $900 and $400 promised. Need: $700 (tuition). God had been asking me to trust, and I recalled a memory of a friend of mine who was about to go to an art evangelism school in Australia and still didn't have her tuition money. But she was trusting for it, had her flight booked. And I said, "God, if you want me to have that kind of faith, okay. I'd like to have my money before I show up at the airport, but I'm going to believe that you're going to provide my tuition costs." I even got the feeling that He was going to provide the final $700 from one person.

I was right. And not only did He give me that at one time, He gave me money (from others) in excess of my budget! (He knew I'd left something out of my budget before I did.)

My common excuse in many situations, including this one, is that I don't have money. Doesn't matter what it is - Sorry, I don't have the money, I can't. That was practically true, but it was also an excuse. I don't want to/I'm afraid to...and I don't have the money. Here is what I've learned: God can "take care" of your excuses if you let Him. He'll blow them out of the water. You may think they excuse you, but He's so much bigger than they are, and He will eliminate any possibility of an excuse from you...if you ask. Sometimes you don't have to ask. But in this case, I did. I had to let go of the fear that kept me from believing I was really going to Redding. My money excuse stemmed from that. When I asked God to take care of the money, a part of me hoped He wouldn't be able to. Then I wouldn't have to do something so terrifying. But excuses are nothing to Him. Money, really, is nothing to Him. $2000? He can take care of it like that. *snaps fingers* He really doesn't spend half the emotional energy on money as we do.

God doesn't do excuses. They don't exist in the Kingdom. Nothing is impossible with Him, and therefore no excuse is plausible.

What led me to even ask God in the first place if He could take care of my money excuse? When Kris Vallotton said something to the effect of, "When you believe God has called you to something, and you consult your wallet before you consult God...money is an idol." Bam. That revelation changed my life.