Trust God, Not Yourself (Matthew 6:19-21)
I would hazard a guess that not many of the current generation seek money for money’s sake. The accumulation of wealth to simply to be counted ala Scrooge—or swum in ala Scrooge McDuck—is rightly recognized as silly by most. People claim to merely want, “enough to be able to live as I want.” But the problem there is again an issue of trust. Do we trust God’s provision and care or are we wanting to find security somewhere else, namely in ourselves.
Some would think that this section should be called, “Trust God, not Money.” But people don’t seek out riches for the riches themselves, but for the security and power the treasure provides. When we accumulate money and insurance, it is ourselves we are trusting. We want the power to fend off future needs. We want to know that when the unforeseen comes, we will have the ability to make problems go away with the control money provides.
Foolishly, however, we fail to see that the trust we place in ourselves and in money is a false hope. No one can count on tomorrow, even in the ability of a bank account or an insurance policy to be there for us.
The question here is where does responsibility end and lack of trust in God begin? Saving an emergency fund is not wrong, surely? Insurance is not evil, right? No. But we need to place our ultimate trust in God; in His plans. And recognize in trusting Him that those plans may involve hardship or suffering however temporary. People love to quote Jeremiah 29:11. But they need to remember that God’s plans there involved 70 more years of slavery and suffering. Good does not exclude hardship. And an ability to pay our way out of those hardships might mean missing out on God’s greater good.
Some would think that this section should be called, “Trust God, not Money.” But people don’t seek out riches for the riches themselves, but for the security and power the treasure provides. When we accumulate money and insurance, it is ourselves we are trusting. We want the power to fend off future needs. We want to know that when the unforeseen comes, we will have the ability to make problems go away with the control money provides.
Foolishly, however, we fail to see that the trust we place in ourselves and in money is a false hope. No one can count on tomorrow, even in the ability of a bank account or an insurance policy to be there for us.
The question here is where does responsibility end and lack of trust in God begin? Saving an emergency fund is not wrong, surely? Insurance is not evil, right? No. But we need to place our ultimate trust in God; in His plans. And recognize in trusting Him that those plans may involve hardship or suffering however temporary. People love to quote Jeremiah 29:11. But they need to remember that God’s plans there involved 70 more years of slavery and suffering. Good does not exclude hardship. And an ability to pay our way out of those hardships might mean missing out on God’s greater good.
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