A friend and I were joking recently about cooking up a million dollar idea to solve all of our financial woes. Sadly, these days I don’t think a million would guarantee that someone was set for life. I’m certain it could be life changing and if someone is wise with their money it could do a lot to ease their worries for the future. But whether it’s $1 million or $1 billion, I know (REALLY deep down – I have to dig) that money isn’t the answer to all of my problems.
But times are definitely tough. A lot of people I know are buckling down, budgeting, and sacrificing in order to make ends meet. Some of my friends work two jobs or at least have “something on the side” that brings in a little extra spending cash. I myself am beginning to question if I NEED a smart phone (Gulp). Not sure if I’ll take the plunge and go that far off the grid in the name of saving some money, but it’s a possibility.
Finances are one of those areas where it can be really hard to just “have faith.” We don’t just sit around and wait for God to drop bags of money out of the sky. If only. But no – we are supposed to go out and earn our keep. The thing is, life has a funny way of siphoning the money straight out of our bank accounts just as fast as we can earn it. And that’s not even considering all of the emergencies that can arise and put people in a truly perilous situation financially.
As someone who finds herself feeling broke on a regular basis, it feels trite to advise others to trust God. But what I can say with confidence is that I’m frequently reminded that my prosperity doesn’t lie in how much I make. And I don’t even mean that in a cliche, “best things in life are free” kind of way. I mean that I always find provision for my physical needs AND for the more important needs of my heart.
There’s a certain kind of fear that comes from just scraping by. You can’t always put a name on exactly what the fear is, but it’s there. If you let it, it can loom over you like a dark cloud. I have a feeling that’s just where the enemy wants us. Dreading and fearing and not trusting. The minute I hand it over to Him, the fear subsides. It’s not a “simple as that” experience to hand it over. I just get tired enough of the fear that I finally stop fighting to control things and do what I should have been doing all along. It’s a cycle, too. God brings me back to that place time and time again.
Who, then, are those who fear the Lord ? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose. They will spend their days in prosperity, and their descendants will inherit the land.
Psalm 25:12-13