Thursday, October 7, 2010

Trust God

"Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless."

-- Ecclesiastes 5:10

I have grown really tired of all the money talks at church. I don't want to hear another story about how tithing leads to good things. I know it's true. I'm living it now. I'm just tired of hearing about it. Let's move on.

I know times are tough. It's been a rough couple of years. Churches, like everyone else, are hurting financially. When individual incomes fall, so do the church coffers. I'm not insensitive to that. It's just that repeated pleading doesn't make people feel warm and fuzzy and eager to give. It just makes them want to stay home -- like I did on Sunday.

Years ago I heard a pastor talk about money. He said he didn't worry about money. He also acknowledged that it upset a number of people in the church. This pastor said that the only thing he was concerned with was knowing God's will. The reason? Because if God calls us to do something, He'll make sure we have the money to do it.

It was such a simple explanation and resolved so many things in my mind about money. See, I've always had money issues. I equate money with acceptance. I want to earn lots of money. It never made me happy but at least I thought I was in control. I wasn't. It never stopped the sadness. And I was never, ever in control of anything.

I've come to understand that worrying about money means that I'm not trusting God to take care of me. I think I've got to handle it. It's a control issue. It's like I need to be in control. I know it's silly. I'm not in control. God is. Always. Any control I think I have is just an illusion.

So it bothers me when I hear a church talking about money Sunday after Sunday. I want to stand up and shout at the leaders to pray instead. To seek God's will and trust Him to handle things. God really does know what He's doing. He knows what we need. And He has a plan. He'll give us the money to do His will. Trust Him. He won't let you down.