Which is greater: your faith or your logic?

Faith is difficult when it goes against logic. Logically speaking, giving the land a rest in the seventh year, as the Lord commanded in Leviticus 25, means not having any way of providing for yourself in the 8th year or 9th year. It means that you won’t logically have any crops to harvest that you can eat, trade, or sell.

But our God isn’t constricted by logic. Logically, the walls of Jericho shouldn’t have come tumbling down when the Israelites marched around them. Gideon’s army of 300 should not have defeated 135,000 Midianites. The Red Sea should not have opened up allowing the Israelites to walk through on dry land. The sun should not have stood still in the sky, giving Josha the victory over the Canaanites.

Our God created the rules of this universe and He can manipulate them. In Leviticus 25, when he commands the Israelites to give the land a rest, he follows his command with a wonderful promise. In verse 21, he promises to send such a blessing in the sixth year that it will last them for three years. They will eat of this harvest in the 7th year, as they give the land a rest. They will eat it in the 8th year, as they plant their crops. And they will eat it in the 9th year until the harvest comes in.

Unfortunately, the Israelites did not obey God’s commandment. They did not let the land rest and suffered the consequences. They were taken into captivity by Babylon for seventy years, giving the land the rest that God had commanded (Leviticus 26:34, 2 Chronicles 36:20-21).

We, too, have been given a commandment that tests our faith because it goes against logic. Logically speaking, bringing 10% of our tithes to the Lord means that we will have less money. But, allow me to remind you, our God is not constricted by logic.

Last year, the Lord began to speak to me about my tithes. I was giving my tithes, but I was only giving 10% of my paycheck. This is important to know because by the time I receive my paycheck, several things have already been deducted (taxes, health insurance, retirement savings, and other miscellaneous things). God was trying to show me that I needed to give 10% of my total income. I had my doubts that this was true so I purposely avoided looking into the situation because I knew that once I knew the answer I couldn’t pretend that I had doubts. Finally, after some procrastinating, I couldn’t ignore the prompting of the Holy Spirit anymore and asked a pastor the question. “Do I give 10% of my paycheck or 10% of my income?” The pastor was very clear. “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse (Malachi 3:10),” he said. The Bible is clear and I can’t say I was surprised. God had already told me this. I just pretended that I wasn’t sure. Why? Because logically speaking, I would have less money. And I needed that money. I had plans for that money. But I chose to trust and obey God. I started to give him 10% of my full income. It’s been a little over a year since I started doing that. And in that year, I have saved more money than I have ever been able to save.

Logically, more money leaving my bank account should mean less in savings. But our God is not constricted by logic. He is a God of blessings. He is a God who keeps his promises. He is a God that provides. I praise Him for who He is.

If you find yourself struggling to exercise your faith because it goes against logic, remember who our God is. Read in the Bible where God performed impossible things. Read the story of the woman with the jar of olive oil in 2 Kings chapter 4. Her husband died and creditors were coming to take her sons as slaves. She had nothing except a small jar of olive oil. Elisha instructed her to ask her neighbors for empty jars and to fill them up with oil. The oil kept flowing until she ran out of jars. She was able to use that oil to pay her debts and to provide for herself and her children. God rewarded her faith and obedience. Logically, a small jar of olive oil shouldn’t have filled numerous other empty jars. But this woman didn’t look at the logic of the situation. She looked at the greatness of our God. She exercised her faith and obeyed Elisha when he asked her to borrow empty jars from her neighbors. We know from the fact that creditors were coming to take her sons as slaves that this woman was already in debt. Can you imagine how difficult it would’ve been for a woman already in debt to ask to borrow more? And yet, she obeyed. She took a step of faith.

I encourage you today to meditate on His word to strengthen your belief that our God is not constricted by logic. Then, take a step of faith and praise God for who He is, what He has done, and what He will do.