With an emphasis on profit-loss statements, Individual Retirements Accounts (IRAs) and healthy bank accounts, especially in an economy that is spiraling downward, where will people turn when savings have been depleted? In December of 2010, the national unemployment rate reached 9.8%, and while the other 90.2% may be employed, salaries and wages earned have dropped drastically for the vast majority of all in the workplace. It is easy to rely on self when all is going well, but when real trouble begins, where is there to turn? Sadly, tough economic times see a stark increase in suicide rates, along with drug abuse and alcoholism.
Though we have the tendency to rely on self and our financial well-being, God desires for us to rely on Him, and instead, gain spiritual well-being. One of the best biblical examples of that occurs when the rich, young ruler approached Jesus, and asked what was necessary to follow Him:
22 So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
23 But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.
24 And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Luke 18:22-25
Many people reading this passage misinterpret the message, thinking that we are called to take vows of poverty in order to follow our Savior. Yet God blessed King Solomon with more wealth than anyone else in the world. For the rich, young ruler, wealth was an idol, and if we are willing to worship the Lord, it must be in spirit and in truth. When something else gets in the way, and is more important to us than God, we cannot follow Him! Because God desires a relationship with us, He frequently places us in situations where we will look to Him as our provider, rather than relying on self. Paul summed it up:
7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:7-11
We need to pile our pasts on the rubbish heap when we come to the Lord. Our pasts include our accomplishments, egos and treasures, all stored up to make us feel better, stronger and more competent. But the good news is that the rubbish heap also includes our sins, taken away by a Savior who loves us. Those sins are heavy burdens to carry, but He enables us to cast that weight aside! Are you enduring a difficult time? As Paul reminds us, when we suffer, we are baptized into His suffering, that we may know an inkling of what our Savior endured for us to be saved. It is easy to become overwhelmed with what seem to be insurmountable difficulties, but we know that our God loves us and does not seek to destroy us. It certainly is a test. Will we continue to rely on self or begin to rely on Him?
God goes to incredible lengths to provide for His people. Recounted in Genesis 37-44, God allowed Joseph’s brothers to cast him into a pit that others would find him. Joseph was taken into slavery and imprisoned before sharing God’s interpretation of a dream. That event caused a change in Joseph’s life. No longer a slave, Joseph became the second most powerful man in Egypt behind only Pharaoh. With God’s foreknowledge of an approaching famine, Joseph saved enough grain to sustain all of Egypt. His brothers came to Egypt to acquire enough grain to sustain their families, as well, and were unknowingly confronted by the brother they had sought to kill. Instead of feeling any bitterness to those brothers, Joseph wept and provided in abundance. God’s miraculous hand prepared a path for His people, in the midst of famine. That plan involved what many would term insurmountable difficulties, like famine, slavery and imprisonment, but those were temporary obstacles to reach the goal of trusting in God.
It all comes down to trust. If we as Christians truly believe what we claim to believe, we need to exhibit that faith in the best of times and also in the worst of times! By living with joy in the midst of turmoil, our lives can speak volumes to a hard-of-hearing world that desperately needs to hear about a God who loves, provides and saves.
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;
But we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
Psalm 20:7
“But woe to you who are rich,
For you have received your consolation.
Luke 6:24
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