Do you have a good handle on your finances? Do you know where each dollar goes every month and is it budgeted? Or are you the kind of person that gets to the end of your money before you get to the end of your month?
More often than not, I come across people who have financial struggles. They work hard and wouldn’t consider themselves frivolous with their funds, but it’s just hard to get by sometimes. Then I see all of these ministries, organizations and people trying to do Kingdom work, and they never seem to have enough money to do what they’re called to do. Why is this happening? How is it possible?
Psalm 50:9-12 is referenced a lot in sermons, teachings and even prayer,
I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.”
God owns everything ever created, so why do we see His work being hindered due to lack of funds? Well, simply put, because He has made us the trustees of all He has and we haven’t managed it well.
This weekend I was speaking at a conference on beauty. I spent time establishing how the world defines beauty and suggests we obtain it before looking at God’s word to see how He defines it and how He suggests we obtain it. One of the statistics I shared was the amount of money girls and women spend on the pursuit of beauty in their lifetime. The average woman spends well over $400,000 in the pursuit of something that doesn’t exist apart from God. Now, before the men reading say, “Yeah, they’re the spenders” there is similar research out there about men. If the pursuit of beauty isn’t the black hole where your money goes, there are plenty of others we throw our money into causing stress and strain on our marriages, on our health and on our ability to give to Kingdom work.
We’re so quick to look at God and say, “Do something” when He’s looking back at us saying, “I gave you what you need to do something, you’ve just put it in the wrong place.”
Before you think I’m pointing fingers, I’m talking to myself as much as anyone. I know I need to spend some time reevaluating my finances and where I allocate them to see if there is any area I can tweak so I can give more to Kingdom work. Ultimately, Kingdom work is all that will matter in the end. Why are we worrying about and investing in things that will pass away when God has given us the opportunity to invest in things that hold eternal value?
What are you giving yourself and your resources to these days? Does something need to change? I’m pretty certain I can find some areas that need adjusting and it needs to happen now.
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