No matter how often we’ve seen God meet our needs, our enemy always whispers, “God’s not going to come through this time.”
Some of us are just starting our careers and we wonder how God will make a way.
Others of us experienced God’s provision when we were single, but now that we’re married we worry: Will God still provide?
Then, some of us were married until things fell apart through death or divorce. We cry: God, will you still take care of me?
Having children adds a new layer of financial need and again this question surfaces: God, do you see what we need now?
Still others of us witnessed God’s provision throughout our careers, but now as we finish we find ourselves asking again: Will God provide for my future?
Worry or Work?
When this question arises, worry is often our first response. We lie in bed awake, our minds spinning, trying to figure out a way to make it work, a way to be okay.
Work is our second impulse. We decide to get up early and work late. “If I had more money in the bank,” we think, “then I wouldn’t need to worry.” So we hustle to outwork, outsmart, out-save, and out-invest the insecurity of money.
The truth is no amount of money can solve our fear of not having enough. The rich and the poor both worry about money. We know instinctively that what’s here today could be gone tomorrow. So we must look beyond our own worry and work.
The Answer To Insecurity
In the Bible, we find God affirms the insecurity of money. In Proverbs 23:4-5 we read, “Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.”
Even when you have money, you can’t count on it. Moth and rust destroy. Thieves break in and steal. Tax laws change. Medical emergencies come up unexpectedly. Wealth is so uncertain.
Jesus told a story about a rich farmer who was so successful he built bigger barns to store all of his grain, thinking to himself, “You have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” The farmer felt that he had finally found security. He thought he had earned his rest and indulgence. But in a surprising twist, God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” (Luke 12:20)
According to Jesus, the answer to the insecurity of money is not storing up, it’s seeking first.
Seek First
In Jesus’ most famous sermon, he proclaimed, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)
In context, Jesus promises that what we need to eat, drink, and wear is not our responsibility, but God’s. Several hundred years ago Jonathan Edwards commented on this passage, saying:
“If you do not selfishly seek your own, but do seek the things that are Jesus Christ’s, and the things of your fellow human beings, then God will make your interest and happiness his own charge, and he is infinitely more able to provide for and promote it than you are. The resources of the universe move at his bidding, and he can easily command them to subserve your welfare.”
The problem many of us face is that somewhere along the way we started believing it was our job to provide for ourselves. We traded in childlike faith for self-reliance. But taming the uncertainty of the future and planning for all possible contingencies was never our job. It’s always been God’s job.
God’s way is that we will be taken care of not by our worry or our work, but by our perfect Father who provides for us as we prioritize his kingdom.
A Promise Keeper
“So… will God provide for my future?” you ask.
If we were sitting across from each other, I’d answer that by asking you two very important questions.
1) Are you God’s child? In other words, have you put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? If yes, God will provide for his kids. He’s a good Father who values you more than all the birds of the air or flowers of the field.
2) Are you seeking first God’s kingdom? Is your deepest desire to walk with God and live for God? If yes, then God’s provision is not a hope, but a promise. And our God always keeps his promises.
We don’t know when or how God will come through, but our faith is anchored, not in what our eyes can see, but in what God has spoken. We have the unimaginable privilege to be children of the King of heaven and he invites us to give him our worries about provision and put our best effort into seeking first his kingdom.
© 2016, 2024 John Rinehart
