Our Every Need

"Do not fear, litle flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." - Luke 12:32 Today's chapter in "Fearless" is a very tough one for me. Although I am making progress, I still have a lot to learn about money. Like how to live within my means. Never have done that very well, consequently the fear of running out of money is always hovering around me. The chapter is titled "Make-Believe Money - Fear of the Coming Winter". When someone lives as I have, paycheck to paycheck, the fear of having no money is kind of always there.....on the back burner......ready to pop up at any time. If the Dow plummets, if gas goes up, if there is ANOTHER rise in health insurance premiums........all of these can ignite the flames of worry over 'going under'. When you live this close to the edge, one miscalculation, one extra sick day, one broken appliance can send you into a tailspin. It's no way to live. Apparently I'm not alone, however. According to a Reuter's poll done through the American Payroll Association, 68% of the people in the United States live paycheck to paycheck. Just enough each time to pay the bills....the mortgage, the minimum payment on the credit cards.....groceries. God forbid that one of the kids gets sick. That would throw the whole budget into a tailspin. Most of us live this way, but is it the right, spiritual way to live? Are we to live so close to the edge that we live in constant fear of falling off a financial cliff? Max Lucado points to Luke 12 and the story of the rich man who planned to tear down his barns because they were not big enough to store all his "stuff". Kind of like when we have a garage sale. Don't have room for all the "stuff". The rich man said he planned to take it easy and eat, drink, and be merry because he was fixed for a long time. Then, out of the blue, God said, "Well, tough toenails. You're out of here tonight." Not exactly what He said, but the fact remains the rich man was to die that night. Then God said, "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." (NIV) Lucado pointed to the rich fool's use of the personal pronouns in all he was saying....I,me, me,my, I. It wasn't wrong to plan, it was wrong to exclude God from his plans. A quote from the book says,"His error was not that he planned but rather that his plans didn't include God. Jesus criticized not the man's affluence but his arrogance, not the presence of personal goals but the absence of God in those goals. There is a lot to be said for how a Christian spends his money. Both of my children are using Dave Ramsay's program for finances. They are both more responsible with their money than I ever have been. We could talk forever on godly principles for our finances. It is an important part of our walk with Christ, and one I don't do too well. Bottom line is, if we really rely on God, then we need to trust Him. We should trust Him, not stuff. 1 Timothy 6:17-19 says: "Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, not to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may hold on to eternal life." There's a lot we could investigate about that verse, but Lucado concentrates on the phrase "Rich in this present age". You know, all who will read this are considered rich by world standards. Lucado quotes that almost half the world, 3 billion + people,live on less than $2.50 a day. That's half the price of a latte at Starbucks, an amount we don't even think twice about spending. We are rich. We don't typically worry about where our next meal is coming from, whether our children will go to bed hungry tonight, if we can find a place to sleep. And, to our shame, we seldom think of those who do have these worries. Lucado warns us not to be haughty, to take our fortune for granted. He says, "Do not think for a moment that you had anything to do with your accumulation.......your stocks, cash, and 402K? They are not yours." They really belong to God: "To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the higher heavens, the earth and eerything in it." Deuteronomy 10:14 "Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours." 1 Chronicles 29:11 " 'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the Lord Almighty." Haggai 2:8 If we rely on our wealth for our security, our "stuff" for our happiness.....when money becomes our "god" and we have reason to worry. One stock market crash and we have no god, no happiness. But if we rely on God for those things, if we live our lives and spend our money as He would have us to do, then NOTHING, not financial ruin, not homelessness, not even hunger or death, can plunge us into despair. Because we are children of the King, and He will supply our every need. May not be what we had in mind, but it will be sufficient. Always.

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