WE'RE NOT MADE to worry about money
We're not made to worry about money.
It's not my job.
As much as I do a good job of trying to make worrying about my money my job, it's not. And trust me, it's hard. We all know it.
I've been living my first couple years on my own. Ya know- paying my own rent. Making my own decisions.
Most people got to this a lot sooner than I did. I spent a lot of time for a few years living with my parents praying and reading and getting to know God. So that was worth it.
But now I'm out in the middle here (the middle = the space where I feel like I'm constantly figuring things out) and guess what.
My number one temptation is to worry about money.
To make life decisions based on money.
Not based on the heart. Not based on people. Not based on love or even WHAT GOD SAYS. Which would be a good thing to consider.
I get so hung up on making sure "Do I have money for that?"
That I cast all other concerns aside.
"Seek first the kingdom..."
My mom has been reminding me of that verse lately. All the time. Because she knows the depth of my nervousness.
"Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33)
You know what verses came before that?
A good deal of verses about money.
About not serving two masters. About not worrying about where clothes are coming from. About just letting God bring what you need like He brings it to the birds. They're taken care of. And luckily they don't have the capacity to worry. Being carefree is such a gift. They don't even know how to worry. What a gift. But we have the gift of choice. Which means we have the gift of relationship with God- of getting to choose to rely on Him. Choose to be with Him. Choose to follow Him. Our worry says that we can't trust His character. That we don't think He's actually going to do it- that we have to.
The Message version says, "What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving." (Matthew 6)
Man. So what are we missing out on if we continue to focus on the worry of just getting?
It distracts us from what God is giving. Which means that we don't get to see the character of God in action. When we don't just rest inside and watch, we'll miss when He actually does provide for us.
I think that's what Jesus meant when He said, "Whoever has will be given more, and they will have abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them." (Matthew 13:12)
In this section, He's talking to His disciples about faith, about spiritual insight. To those who are ready and willing, He'll give more. But to those who have their hearts shut to what He's saying, He speaks in stories, so that maybe they'll have another way of relating to and understanding the message that He's saying. If He said it so directly, they'd just be shut down before they understand.
So when we have the faith. To trust. To know that He's got it all coming our way if we follow Him. And then to just... stop. And see what He brings.
He'll bring more. And He'll show you where to go. He'll show me where to go. What to do. How to move forward. Or whether to move forward at all.
And instead of just getting, we'll get His Kingdom. And His righteousness. And all the things we need as well.
And also a whole lot of joy. Joy is the first thing to go out the window when I start worrying about money.
