In God We Trust
This is the seventh, of a hopefully weekly series, that explores faith, religion, and Christianity. The idea is to share with you my faith, issues I am working on, and to promote discussion.
We sold our house this past week.
We don’t know yet where we are moving.
But until we settle, we have a place to stay.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV)
The reason we purchased a house was to sell it.
Our financial life is one of debt management.
And to improve this situation we are battling on several different fronts.
We’ve scrutinized our spending.
We’ve improved our education.
We’ve consolidated high interest debts.
We are working on a side project.
And now we sold our house.
We bought it with the intention of improving our financial leverage and using the proceeds to further propel us towards our goal of financial freedom.
The topic of money and finances is touchy. Especially when you have a problem.
For the longest time I struggled with having a cheerful heart in giving.
When I did give, I viewed it as just another monthly bill.
However when I didn’t give, things got worse.
I don’t believe in coincidences and I don’t think this was “magic”.
The lesson was not lost on me.
But it was long before my heart was won.
Taking responsibility for your own finances is important. But trusting God is more important.
There are a plethora of charlatans in the world that will lie and say that you will have “health and wealth”.
Sometimes with or without religion being part of the equation.
If they promise you this as the results of faith in God, this is false teaching.
When you read the Word of God, you will learn that “as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too”.
If anyone tells you that once you accept Christ that your life will be “easy street”, they are lying.
God does not need your money.
He wants your heart.
“It may be that you have very little else to give to the Lord - but you can give Him your heart.”
You, like me, might ask “How are we to trust God in the midst of so much suffering?”
We are not alone.
The prophet Habakkuk had the same dilemma.
And God replied.
We are left with the choice to believe and trust in God and His Word or not.
But what difference does it make?
Getting our financial house in order to please the LORD may seem pointless.
Why not just carry on with the way things are?
What do we need to do anyways?
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God? - Micah 6:8 (ESV)
And:
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. - Philippians 2:3-4 (ESV)
We took a leap of faith in selling our house.
We have not yet landed...
But we trust in God, for he is good and has made a promise:
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
If this relates to you and you are interested in knowing more, please ask someone. Me. My wife. A local pastor. A neighbor you know who is a Christian. But please ask and I guarantee you that they will be excited to tell you more. They will especially appreciate that you asked them so that they are not forcing their beliefs upon you but getting your permission to share. It may even be something they have been praying for.
Lord willing, see you all next Sunday!
Thanks,
@strangerarray
Please follow me, @strangerarray, to keep up to date with my other fiction, nonfiction, and other post. Also feel free to send donations to: PayPal.Me/michaelpaine because we all could use some spare change.
Please check out the previous discussions:
Disparity on Display.
This discussion takes a look at disparity and injustice and proposes guidance on a response.
Comfort and Contentment
This post examines my struggle with the differences between being content and being comfortable.
Testify
This post documents part of my journey that lead me from being an enemy of God to being saved by Jesus Christ.
Praise and Worship
This takes a look at the awkward feelings about publicly praising and worshiping the Lord and what difference that has made in my life.
Reasons to Believe
We take a micro tour of Christian Apologetics and the impact it has had on my faith. I am not the best at it and so I direct to sources greater than myself to help others.
Do I have to go?
The question of church attendance is addressed from my perspective of being on both sides of the equation as a non-believer and believer who did and didn’t attend Sunday service at different times in my life.
Hey y’all for more great content check out my friends:
(All robot images from steemd.com)
Good post. I hope you guys find a place soon if you haven't.
Thanks!
We will be staying with some friends in the transition, but haven't been able to find a more "permanent" home.
Are you trying to buy or rent?
We will hopefully be buying, but at a lower price point to reduce monthly expenses. Also the profits from the sale can be used as money down to reduce payments as well.
Great post. I often wonder just how God wants us to use money. Yes, giving to the church is always good. But what does He think about us investing money in hopes of future financial gain? Or buying a lottery ticket? I justify an occasional lottery purchase by stating that I will donate 80 percent of the winnings, while the remaining 20 percent is more than enough to take care of my family. But I still feel like I am greedy to even want to win the lottery.
The other day I read this Why Tony Robbins Changed My Mind On Charity by @thefinanceguy that had an interesting note:
As for my views on winning money, I wrote this article about Daily Fantasy Sports betting that you may find interesting.
As for earning and investing, there are tons of lessons on money in the Bible. Most notably, what comes to mind is The Parable of the Talents found in Matthew 25:14-30. As for lending, the The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant in Matthew 18:21-35.
And here is a great sermon series on giving.
Agreed. Those parables show that God expects us to be good steward's of what He has given us. That can mean working to grow the value of those resources - as long as we remember they are His resources and are ready to expend them faithfully in His service.