Money, Money, Money…
You’re in a very small percent of the population right now if you aren’t facing some financial implications from COVID-19. Whether you’ve had to cut back your hours, lost a job, seen revenue from an investment drop, or watched your college or retirement fund take a bungee jump, most of us have had to face the likelihood of less financial security in the immediate future.As we’ve been facing this in our own family, it occurred to me the other day that this feeling of concern is nothing new. Even in the days of being blessed with the highest income we’ve had, I still had these nagging questions in the back of my mind: Will we have enough to cover college? How will we save enough for retirement? How do we ever start saving for a wedding? Will we ever pay off our mortgage?The question that rose to the surface?
Are you going to spend the rest of your life stressing about money?
It isn’t a rhetorical question. I have a choice. If even in the days of plenty I was worrying, the problem is clearly not the number of dollars. In reality, God has taken care of my needs every single day of my life. When I was worried. When I was too young to know or care. When I had plenty. When there wasn’t enough to make it to the end of the month. When we had health insurance. When we did not. When we could qualify for a home loan. When we could not.
I don’t have Conlee economy answers any more than I have global economy answers. I don’t know how the dollars will arrive. But I do know two things that all of us can do.
Remember His faithfulness.We are here. Fed. Clothed. And I bet a whole lot more for most of us! Make a list of all the ways God has provided for you over the years.
Be a good steward of what He gives you.Be responsible with what you’re receiving and look for opportunities that provide for the needs you have.
The one thing that is a waste of time? Worrying.When worry comes creeping your way, I encourage you to turn on a worship song… begin thanking God out loud for all the ways He has provided for you in the past… give to or serve someone who has needs greater than yours. But skip the worry train. All it does is circle around and around and doesn’t lead to any worthwhile destination.
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?Matthew 6:25-27, English Standard Version