Discover the Answer to Your Money Worries
Almost everyone on this planet at some point in their lives has money worries. My hunch is that you’re no exception. Perhaps you’re travelling through a bit of a rough financial patch at the moment.
The tragedy is that when we’re in that place, we think that the answer, is simply to get more money. It makes sense. It’s logical. Ask anybody and they’ll tell you that it’s the right answer.
Anybody that is, except God.
Financial Fundamentals
Any decision we make, is only as good as the assumptions that underpin it. And when it comes to dealing with money worries, our basic assumptions go like this:
1. When money is tight, more money is the answer.
2. Money buys security.
3. Money makes us happy.
Now you might slice and dice the assumptions a little differently to that, but that’s basically it.
And you could summarise those assumptions in a simple equation: money = security.
The problem with that is that money fails. Stock markets crash. House prices fall. Banks can find themselves on shaky ground. Wars break out. Commodity price do crazy, irrational things. People will steal from you. It turns out that money is nowhere near as secure as we think.
And of course, then there’s the biggie. The more we have, the more we spend – and it somehow doesn’t seem to matter how much we have, we always seem to be able to spend more than we earn.
A Different Perspective
Here’s Jesus’ perspective on security and money:
According to Jesus at least, the riches of this world are insecure. The riches of heaven, on the other hand, are rock solid.
Well now Jesus, that’s a great theory, but how am I going to pay the gas bill next week? you may well be wondering to yourself.
But the reason that Jesus starts out with that, is because He knows that our money worries aren’t so much a physical problem as they are a disease of the heart.
You’d think it would be the other way around. You’d think that your treasure would follow your heart. But no. That’s not it. Your heart follows your treasure. So if you’re busy storing up treasure here on earth, that’s where your hearts will be. And since that sort of treasure doesn’t provide true security, then as a direct consequence of that strategy, youu’re going to have … money worries.
That’s called – in case you’re wondering – the wisdom of God!
In Who or What are You Placing Your Trust?
So is your trust principally in money, or principally in God? As you seek to be a good steward of all that He’s given you, do you focus on the money or on Him?
Come on, where is your heart? I’ll tell you where, it’s following your wallet.
And if the priorities of your wallet are about how much you have, how much you can get and what you can buy with it, you’re in for one hell of a roller coaster ride.
On the other hand, if your trust is in God – if you really believe what He says about you, your needs and your money – then you are living a life of peace.
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you – you of little faith?
Therefore do not worry, saying, What will we eat? or What will we drink? or What will we wear? For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Todays trouble is enough for today.
An Unnatural Act
Trusting God instead of money is an unnatural act. It goes against everything that we’ve been taught. Believe you me, I know.
Back in 2004, I went from a secure, very high paying job as a management and IT consultant, into my role here at Christianityworks – a faith-based ministry that relies on the support of people who like us, are passionate about sharing the Good News of Jesus with people through the media.
At the time, the ministry had just a handful of supporters, no money in the bank and no prospect of generating revenue. Since then, our radio programs have spread to over 160 countries through 1,100 stations, with a weekly listening audience in the tens of millions.
Some days, money is still very tight. Some days, there’s not enough to pay salaries.
On those days, I put my trust in God. And each and every time, He has proven Himself true.
Let me ask you again – where is your heart? In who or what are you placing your trust?
The answers to those two questions will tell you whether you have financial worries, or financial security. It’s that simple.
Other posts in this series:
Why I Don’t Believe in Tithing
The Sort of Giving that Gets God Excited
Honest Answers Quick Poll – Attachment to Money
An Unsettling Story About Money
When Finances are Tight, It’s Time for a Budget
I always worry about money problems, because I have so many bills to pay, a wife with no job and 3 kids. But After reading this and reading the two books “Always say thank you” by Merlin R. Carothers, I will just thank God for all our good and bad days, because he will provide and He is bigger than all my worries. also read the book “lifes’s bitter pool” by Derek Prince. I am beginning to feel much better about myself, my worries are almost gone and I feel happy more often now than before.