Until you learn that life has seasons and timing and set parameters you will never understand life. Sometimes when we look up at God and say why it is the same thing as a 6 year old asking why they cannot drive a vehicle. We understand why but even when we tell the child it is because they have to be older it seems unfair because they want it NOW. As you mature in God some of the questions that we ask in trying to understand why become more clear to us. And just like a six year old thinking it is unfair that we have to wait until we are older to drive a vehicle we often think the answers are unfair.
A big question for some people is WHY they have to struggle with money issues. I have been poor and I have had plenty, and plenty is better IF you can handle the stress of it. There are some principle issues of money that I feel the Lord wants me to share with you today. This will help answer some of the big questions people have about poverty and wealth.
1. You will never have plenty until you learn to be conservative with your spending. This is the most important factor in getting to a place where you don't have to live week to week, pay check to pay check. I have talked with many people about their lack of finances and there are some people that no matter how much they make they have a tendency to spend about 20 percent more than they make on a regular basis. I talked to one couple that made 800 dollars a month and their rent was 600. Wow. now that is tough, but in Kentucky people often live this way. Over all it cost less to live in Kentucky than in some of the other states. I talked to another couple that was making over 1200 each week and they were more broke than the previous couple. Their high income didn't qualify them for any government help and she liked to shop and spend and he had a drug habit that was expensive. I learned early in life that it isn't how much you make that determines how financially fit you are but rather how well you spend it. Turn on any financial speaker and they will advice you to make a budget and stick with it. I have found just writing down what you spend each day and seeing the dollar amount helps you keep a handle on your spending.
2. Having plenty is HARDER than having just enough or struggling to pay the bills. Now if you have struggled financially all your life right now you are thinking that I am crazy for saying this. With excesses of money comes a lot more temptation. Have you ever saw anyone with just enough EXTRA cash to get themselves into a whole heap of trouble. If you want to destroy someone give them a big wad of cash and no guidance on how to spend it. Studies of people that won the lottery have proven that money destroys people. Those that are rich and famous have more divorces and struggle more with finding peace and happiness. Money doesn't fix lives it destroys them unless they overcome the vices that comes with wealth. What are these vices? Pride. Ever saw someone with money that thought they were better than you? Money breeds pride if you don't allow humility to cloak your life. Covetousness. Money buys us things and the more we have the more we want. The closer we are to fitting in with 'the Jones' the more we desire to do so. Just because you CAN borrow money doesn't mean you should. Just because you can buy something doesn't mean you should. I hear people say all the time, "I wish I had this. or I wish I had that." How often do we stretch ourselves financially for 'this and that' until we don't have room to breathe. It breeds materialism and that is the fruit of covetousness.
With plenty comes the stress of handling that money without getting yourself into deeper debt. I have seen several people consolidate debt so that they can at least have a few nickels to rub together after paying their bills. So then what do they do? Use the two nickels to get another loan for another toy or device or trinket that is not necessary at all, just something they always wanted, and now they are right back to where they were, completely broke after paying all bills. I have seen people that get a better paying job and though nothing is wrong with the house they have, new money means they should have a bit better home in a better neighborhood etc. etc. They take all the pay raise they got to get this nice new home and now they are making this huge salary, living in a huge house, driving a huge car and they are barely getting all their bills paid which is extensive and they stay broke all the time. And for those who live on a fixed income. We see people who barely have food and can't afford to buy gas to attend church, yet they have gas and money to go play bingo, buy a cigarette, or some trinket at a yard sale. I have seen people who are on a fixed income skip paying their bills, to get their family into the fair, and then turn around and bum everyone to pay their bills for them. Hey, it isn't how much money you have, how you spend it tells more about your character than how much you make.
So back to the original question of WHY? When we do well with the small things God will give us more. If we don't do well managing what little money we have, we are not going to be trusted to handle more money. Look at the Rich, Young, Ruler. He was rich, He was Young and He was a Ruler, what's not to like? But on top of that he was a super person. He asked Jesus what must I do to receive eternal life? Jesus replied keep the commandments. The rich, young, ruler replied all of these I have kept since my youth. How many of us can say we have kept all the commandments of God since our youth? This was a good person. He was better character than most of us, and made fewer mistakes than most of us because breaking God's commands is where our mistakes come from. This was just a super person! Jesus told him that he lacked one thing, to sale all he had, give it to the poor and to follow Jesus. What did he do? He went away sorrowful. Why? Because he put money first in his life.
That's the last point. If you put money first in your life no matter how much you have or how much you make you will never have enough. Money is like a drug, you never get enough, it never satisfies, and it destroys your life. It is better for some people NOT to have money because they will hurt themselves and others trying to spend it. When you lay down the things of this world and put Jesus first you will be ready to handle money wisely. As long as you are still wanting this or wanting that and wish I had the money to do this or that you haven't laid down the things of this world yet. What is it that we should hunger for? For more of Jesus. When you get to the place that you don't care about anything, you just want more and more of Jesus, now you will be ready to handle wealth. Put you hand on your heart. Give God permission to change your heart that the desire for this and that would no longer reside there, that your heart would desire only more of Jesus.
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