Imagine, if you will, that God miraculously bestowed upon you the gift of unlimited wealth in the form of gold coins: enough to buy the most expensive object you can imagine. What makes the gift so miraculous is that no matter how much you spend, the supply of gold coins is continually replenished.
I'll give you time to consider both your reaction to as well as the consequences of such an amazing gift...
...after giving your new Situation some thought, it may become obvious to you that--
1. Suddenly, you've stopped worrying about money.
Don't brush past this, or take it for granted; quite a bit of our thought processes, attitudes and decisions proceed from the Fountain of Fear...
...fear of failure...fear of rejection...fear of unforeseen emergencies affecting your health and financial wellbeing...fear of not being able to hold down a job or maintain a roof over your head...fear of not being able to provide for those who are depending on you for their health and wellbeing.
Having an unlimited supply of economic and financial assets may have an amazingly positive effect on your intellectual, mental and emotional dispositions, opening up a whole new universe of possibilities, acquaintances and opportunities you've only read in books or seen in the movies.
What was once the focus of your most meticulous plans and backup plans has now become an Oasis of Joy: you are now the wealthiest person alive!
2. You can now annihilate all of your debt.
Fulfilling your financial obligations to your country, state, county, city (or town), creditors and vendors is no longer a tedious task of robbing Peter to pay Paul, but a glorious coming-out party to announce your new-found fortune to the world...and the world responds as though its long-lost prodigal has finally "returned" to the fold of the Privileged as though you had always belonged there. Banks and creditors who had in times past seen you as a weight around their necks now treat you as Master and Commander, presenting you with endless catalogs of treasures not even seen on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.
3. You need protection.
In times past you had to shop, search and hunt for those things you considered needful; now everything and everyone comes to you...and you quickly realize that your "Holy of Holies" (your privacy, safety, time and ability to ponder / think and (perhaps most important) your identity must be set behind human, technical, physical and even industrial edifices so that only those you deem worthy may have access to you.
In a very real sense you've become your own country, having your own currency...a currency that, for many global institutions, may be viewed as a considerable threat to the status quo.
You hire bodyguards, security professionals, financial advisors, and an army of accountants. Your modest apartment has been abandoned for a Vatican-sized estate with high walls, biometric keys, guarded doors and high-powered firearms.
Neither you nor your family are free to wander the earth for work, education or recreation; everything you and your family needs is now within an arms reach in the fortress of solitude you have built for yourself and them.
Once the path between the world and yourself (and your family) has finally come under your control, you can find time to relax and serious consider your new life.
You need to acknowledge the Giver
Existence, conflict, poverty and yes: even hope and wealth without Purpose results in a meaningless life. On a particular evening in your private study, after everyone else (security personnel being the exception) has retired for the evening, you turn your attention to the question all privileged indulge themselves in: "Why me?" You acknowledge that your present situation is the product of a Miracle, and that Miracle, regardless of the freedom it has provided you, still gives you the feeling that you're being manipulated. Why? For what Higher Purpose? You're no fool: a lesser man would see the world as his oyster; yet even now, as your morning cabinet meetings have revealed, you are being watched, surveilled, observed and, in some cases, tested and resisted. It occurs to you that you would not have come this far relatively unscathed were it not for Divine Intervention.
Those intuitions that prompted you to choose a candidate with inferior qualifications to another; those last-second decisions to change your routine; avoiding a logistical disaster by moments...
...it would be tempting to see yourself as an invincible superhero.
But you know better. Those early years in church...the Books of Deuteronomy, Ecclesiastes and Proverbs whose sayings echo in your mind to this day...
"Take care... ...lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping His Commandments and His Rules and His Statutes, which I command you today.
Lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied...
...then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; Who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; Who brought you water out of the flinty rock; Who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know; that He might humble you and test you, to do you good in your latter end.
Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’
You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may confirm His Covenant that He swore to your fathers, as it is this day."
-- The Prophet Moses, Deuteronomy 8:11-18
You realize that you are but a single drop in a bloodline that reaches back generations and centuries to Noah, Enoch and Adam. You know that this world system is the object of God's Wrath and that its destruction is inevitable. It dawns upon you that this miraculous Gift of Financial Fortune is, in fact, a STEWARDSHIP, not meant to be spent at your fiat, but to be placed back at the Feet of Him Who doesn't measure wealth by dollars and sense, but by character and fruit.
You fall on your knees.
"Lord, what would You have me to do?"
With a Voice laced by a pleasing Smile the answer came:
"Feed My Sheep."
Of course...of COURSE! The Gospel! The Gospel of Grace and Truth! The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, in Whom all Grace and Truth find their Source! The only event standing between the present and the Return of Christ to restore all things is the proclamation of The Gospel to every creature in every corner of the Earth...and now in YOUR hands God has placed the means to make it happen!
The Foundation
Ideas, figures, names and places begin to race through your head...
...but WAIT! This is all quite exciting, but is it worth breaking your routine bedtime? Your cabinet of advisors (all of whom you have made millionaires) are professional, efficient and trustworthy; if you provide the vision, they will see to its implementation...
...and God is watching over it all.
You go to bed, suspecting that sleep will be impossible; but it wasn't.
You and your cabinet create one Foundation with three divisions:
One division to invest in individuals (and their families) in dire need
A second division to assist companies (profit and non-profit) that are attempting to develop products that would actually improve the human condition
A third division to assist non-profit organizations whose goal is to present the Gospel to the remaining 3 billion humans that have yet to hear it.
Everyone in your organization (and your family) are now excited to begin the task of accomplishing your God-given vision; the very air in your citadel has changed, converted from a scene of meandering activity to an almost Disneyland-like atmosphere...