“Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom; in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be.“

Psalm 39:6

If you live in western culture, you live in a very money-driven society.  So many of the decisions we make day in and out depend on money and our distribution of it.  In Jesus’ speech The Sermon on the Mount, he warns us that “where our treasure is, there our heart will be also” Matthew 6:21 and then goes on to say “No one can serve two masters, either you will hate one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and money.” Matthew 6:24  Jesus continues to remind us,  “therefore, do not worry about your life.” Matthew 6:25  I get it, it’s way easier said than done to not worry about our lives, especially when we have a family, mortgage, bills, and debt that need to be paid.  What we need to remind ourselves of when we read these verses is that, Jesus himself told us to not worry.  Jesus himself warns us that we are to not worry about our money here on earth.  Do you trust that?  

We either trust God or we don’t.  We either trust David’s words in Psalm 39 or we don’t.  David reminds us that we are building up money here on earth, not even realizing that the money was never ours to begin with.  It’s God’s money, not ours.  He will do with it what he wants.  We either believe that or we don’t.  That’s faith though, isn’t it?  If we knew every outcome, every step that we were going to take, it wouldn’t be faith.  Like all areas of your life, we need to trust that God is going to provide and take care of us- and that includes our money.  It’s interesting that Jesus is giving his Sermon on the Mount speech, discusses not building up treasures on earth, then goes on to tell us that we cannot love both God and money.  Right after he says that, it says “therefore” and I’ve heard someone say that when you see the word “therefore”, you need to ask yourself, “what is that there for”?  Right after Jesus warns us that we cannot love both God and money, he explains what that is there for, it is there to remind us to not love both God and money, that we are not to worry about money or treasures here on earth.  When you actually understand that our money really isn’t our money at all, it’ll bring you comfort in realizing that God can and will make a way for you.

Find comfort in the fact that God is not going to leave you hanging.  God loves you and he cares for you.  Instead, ask God for help in your season of worrying about money.  Ask God to make a way, ask God what he wants you to do with his money.  Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said “never will I leave you, never will I forsake you”.  Hebrews 13:5  God will give you what he wants you to have, remember that.  If he is withholding money right now, ask for discernment as to why he is doing that in this season?  If God is flooding you with fortune, ask him how you can be used with this good fortune in the season you are in.  Remind yourself that your money is God’s money and trust him with all of it. 

In Jackie Hill Perry’s devotional, Upon Waking, she says “much of what we fear is so because our conviction about who walks with us is shallow”.  Mic Drop.  What she means is that we are lacking full trust in God in all areas of our lives.  We may trust that God is going to give us great health, but we aren’t fully trusting that he is going to provide for us financially, so we seek all ways in which we can bring in money.  We need to lean into that and evaluate where we haven’t gone deep enough with God yet.  “For the Spirit of God is not of fear, but is of power, love and self control”.  2 Timothy 1:7 With God, we don’t have to fear the things of this world, because we have a relationship with the creator of it– and that includes fear of money.  The power that defeated death is the same spirit that God deposited in you.  He gave you more than you’ll ever need.  With that spirit, we have power, love, and self-control.  So when we are facing moments of fear or creeping moments of doubt, we can call on that spirit to give us a sound mind and control in our thinking.  We can call on the Holy Spirit to rid us of that fear of money and replace it with faith.  Do not worry about money, trust that God is going to provide and make a way.  Lean into your relationship with God and ask him to rid you of your worry with money, replacing that with trust in this season.  You’ll be amazed at the ways God will provide.