When I wrote the last post, I had no idea there would be a part 2, but here it is, only a few days later. The fear that I was so relieved to step away from last week, when the Lord made it so clear that He is working in the midst of this economic crisis, had returned. With every news announcement and so many personal conversations, I was becoming increasingly more anxious about what is happening. This time, it seemed like it was much more personal, while before the fear was more for the nation as a whole. Much as I tried to remind myself of what He had shown me last week, I wasn’t staying above the fears. Enter the wonderful Holy Spirit!
As I sat down to read the Bible, I was led to Hebrews 12, and continued through chapter 13, as well. When I came to 13:5, I knew why He had me in this passage. ”Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]” My first response was, “Wow!” Obviously, the Lord didn’t think we would get it with just a single statement of His promise of provision, so He declared it repeatedly and in various ways so that we might actually believe Him. My faith needed more than just reading it silently would do, so I declared this Word out loud for myself and my family. (Romans 10:17)
Then the real work began. The Lord pointed out the beginning of the verse, highlighting in my heart the part about being free from the love of money and being satisfied with what I have now. This tied right in to the verse from Matthew 6 where Jesus said we cannot serve God and mammon. I have been so quick to declare the Lord is my Provider, and the Lord is my Source – and He is. But I’ve done that with such assurance, not because of His Word of promise, but because we had some money saved. I was deceived into thinking that my trust was in the Lord, when it was really in the bank and the investment firms, and wall street, etc. Somehow, once the provision from God has come into our possession, my trust moved over to the provision, rather than remaining with the Provider. It was easy to stay in this deception, declaring that everything was going to be provided by God, as long as there were no problems with our mammon. Once it began rapidly to drop in value, the deception was exposed, and it was so ugly!
Now that you’ve seen the ugliness that the devil was using to try to bring destruction in my life, I want to share a couple of things that the Lord is revealing that prove He is turning it for good. The first one is that my husband said he was convicted that very day, as well. Believe it or not, that really excites me, because it shows God is doing a similar work in each of us at the same time. I also have a sense that God is going to show Himself strong to us in ways we couldn’t imagine before, when we had our eyes on the mammon.
I also see that this was a trap so very easy to step into. While we have been thankful for the finances the Lord has brought to us, somehow we forgot it was from Him once we had it in hand. We also forgot about the times we had so much less, and how He brought what was needed every time. In planning for the future, we forgot to be satisfied with His daily provision and His promise never to leave us helpless or forsake us or let us down or relax His hold on us. Our eyes moved from Him to His blessings, instead. It is so clear in Matthew 6:33 that we are to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, because all the things we really need He will provide. Our eyes are to be so fixed on Him and on seeking Him that none of the things He has provided hold sway over us, whether much or little, growing or shrinking.
I am so thankful that the Holy Spirit loves me enough to remind me of this. I don’t want anything else to have His rightful place in my heart, or to trust in what I have physically, because I know that it won’t last. With everything in me, I want to trust my awesome God so totally that I stay in the peace that passes all understanding, rejoicing from the very depths of my heart, regardless of what goes on around me. I know He is faithful to His Word – even to working it in me by His Spirit. I can trust Him, even when I don’t understand. All praise and glory to His name!
To Make Christ Known 