…For where your treasure is there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:21.
Let’s apply God’s truth to our view of material possessions and then to our financial decisions.
From last week: Principle one: “God owns everything” and
Principle two: “I owe everything to God.”
Principle three: “God has a plan for me.”
Do you believe God has a plan for your life or just for those who make a career of ministry? He wants you to bear an abundance of fruit that will last (John 15:16). God’s plan is good, acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2). The goal for each of us is to do His will, to fit into God’s plan. Instead of my coming to God, explaining my plan and giving Him his assignment, I need to come to Him and ask for my assignment.
When we live in obedience to God, the results give glory to Him. Wears Valley Ranch operates without debt and without accepting tax dollars. Visitors who see our ministry say, “Wow! This is a miracle.” Actually, it’s a series of miracles. I could tell story after story of God’s gracious provision and perfect timing. God doesn’t love us anymore than He loves you. Your problems and your needs are just as important to Him as mine are. I’m grateful to have learned, years ago, to depend on Him. You can, too!
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus doesn’t say, “The pagans run after all those things, but you don’t need food and clothes.” Instead, He says, “You don’t have to run after those things, because your heavenly Father knows you need them. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you as well.”
You don’t have to be a pastor, an evangelist or run a children’s home to work for God. I have friends who work full-time for God as carpenters, realtors, doctors, homemakers, lawyers, salesmen and accountants. I’ve also seen pastors, evangelists and other career ministers who are not working for God.
Working for God is not so much what you do as why you do it. This gives me tremendous freedom with my time, because all I have to do today is whatever God wants me to do. Having God as your boss is real freedom. He knows what is best, and He loves you.
Principle four: “He will meet my every need if I am walking in obedience.”
I was talking with a recent college graduate who was looking for a job. I asked, “What kind of job do you want?”
He responded, “I really would like some financial security, so I’d like to work with a large corporation.”
“What kind of financial security do you want?”
“I just want to work for somebody who’s going to take care of me.”
I work for Someone who has promised if I do what He says, He will always make sure I have a place to live, food to eat and clothes to wear. Not only that, He will provide for my good in the best possible way, above and beyond survival needs. He’s not going to give me money and say, “Good luck.” He’s going to provide exactly what is best for me.
If you work for a corporation and your boss asks you to make a trip on behalf of the company, do you worry about your budget and whether or not you can afford it? No, if you are representing your corporation, you don’t even think about the bill.
I work for Someone who says, “Anytime I send you somewhere, I’ll pay the bill.” The organization I work for is guaranteed to be around even if heaven and earth pass away. The retirement plan is out of this world – literally. I have total financial security, because the One I work for says as long as I walk in obedience, He’ll meet my every need.
This is what most of us want. We aren’t misers desiring to sit around counting money; we just want to know that all of our needs will be met. If you know God owns everything, there is no great thrill in counting how much money you have.
Let me clarify. God promises to meet your every need if you walk in obedience. This does not include everything you want. God will do what’s best for you. Some of the things we want aren’t really best for us. God in His mercy doesn’t give us a scorpion even if we ask for one. He gives good gifts to His children. He doesn’t want to hurt us.
Sometimes God will meet our need at the last minute. Furthermore, sometimes He will do it through the body of Christ, which may require humility on our part.
If I’m a typical American, I enjoy being self-sufficient rather than finding my sufficiency in Christ. I don’t want to be a typical American; God will always meet my needs faithfully and for His glory, not mine.
God will sometimes allow us to experience a shortage in order to bless us in a special way. Some of the most precious and powerful experiences in my life have occurred when God allowed me to become keenly aware of a need only He could meet. When I was tempted to take matters into my own hands, His Spirit would prevent me and remind me to wait on the Lord. Over and over, I have seen His complete faithfulness, kindness and wisdom as the need was met in an unexpected way at the last moment. In spite of my own experience in this regard, I sometimes wish God would not wait until the last moment to meet these needs. Yet, God knows that even more than I need His financial provision, I need to learn to trust Him.
There have been times when I wanted something very much, and God said, “No.” There have been other times when God said, “Not now.” I’ve tried to talk Him into it and He says, “Trust me.” When we live life in the light of God’s truth, worry is off limits. We will not let pressure, financial or social, cause us to do things that dishonor God or hurt others. We will not waste our lives chasing the world’s standard of success. When our trust is in God, the goal is to serve and honor Him in everything. He never fails us.
Featured Resource:
