Scrolling through Instagram the other day, I saw a post by a girl I follow that got my attention. It drew me into the truth and showed me something I needed to see. Funny how the smallest things can catch your attention. I have dwelled on it for days and have lost count on the number of people I have shared it with.
She posted Proverbs 30:7-9:
Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.
Financial security is a easy idol in my life. It’s rational, it’s responsible, and it is often enslaving. It enslaves me to bitterness, anxiety, ungratefulness, and doubt. I like our family to have more than enough, a nice comfy cushion between us and the red numbers. I want our debt to be paid yesterday, and I want to be able to buy whatever I want. I want to give money away abundantly. I want wood floors and quartz countertops. I want, I want, I want. And I worry, I worry, I worry. I worry about our family, I worry about what we will do if we have kids. Do I have to work? Can we feed them? The list goes on.
And then I read Proverbs 30:7-9. Agur asks for two things. The first will preach all on its own. But the second is that God would only provide him what he needs. Not more, and not less, but enough. It reminds of the Israelites in the wilderness as they wandered and each day the Lord would give them enough manna for that day and that day alone. And each day they would gather just enough for that day. If they gathered more than enough, it would rot and not be edible. So God only provided enough for that day, and they had to trust that each morning when they woke up, a new manna would be available for that day.
They had to trust in the faithfulness of God.
And I too must trust in the faithfulness of God. That He will provide enough for each day. I do not need to be anxious for anything (Matthew 6:34).
Truthfully, I don’t always trust that God will provide. I feel a need to make sure there is a plan B in case He does not meet my needs. So I plan, I save, I store up my treasures on earth (Matthew 6:19).
And he told them a parable saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, and be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:16-21)
This is not a rebuke to responsible, rational money management but rather a rebuke to the enslaving idolatry of financial security. A repentance for bitterness, envy, and doubt that spring up as a result. A plea of my own to live in thankfulness and trust.
something thoughtful 