“People leave this
world no better off than when they came. All their hard work is for
nothing—like working for the wind. Throughout their lives, they live under a
cloud—frustrated, discouraged, and angry.” (Ecclesiates 5:16-17; NLT)
It
is safe to say that money is the number one thing that can poke holes in my
serenity. Here in this society, money is required for me to make it from day to
day – to feed myself, to clothe myself, to keep a roof over my head. Money also
is required for education, preparation and relaxation.
I
know I am not alone in this. Friends and family members have struggled over the
years, some breaking free of money’s crush, others still living under it, and
yet others choosing to remain unaware of any issue. With the ups and downs of
the economy over the last several years, many of us found ourselves suddenly
unemployed, and while God may have graced us with a new job, we carry the
burden of debt accumulated while without work. Many who chose to take out
school loans over recent years graduated only to be unable to find work adequate to
cover the cost of their monthly payments.
And
the cost of everything, it seems, continues to go up, up, up, while our
paychecks, if we’re blessed enough to have them, stay right where they are.
Spend
some time in Ecclesiates and you’ll see the author is very much fed up with our
human patterns of existence. Perhaps he saw something similar in his time to
what is common today of people working hard just to make ends meet and hardly
getting to enjoy the life God gave them because of their constant toiling. He
says it’s all for nothing. We can’t take it with us, so there’s no use for
hoarding it. We should be enjoying life more, not being so consumed by work and
worry.
But
what about saving money for retirement? Or emergencies? What about providing
for the kids?
Perhaps
the main point here is that the author is trying to bring our attention to our
fruitless works. Not to tell us to stop working all together, but to consider
where our time is spent and how much we trust God to take care of us. In the
introduction to Ecclesiates in The Message, Eugene Peterson writes:
“Ecclesiastes actually doesn’t say that much
about God; the author leaves that to the other sixty-five books of the Bible. His
task is to expose our total incapacity to
find the meaning and completion of our lives on our own.” (emphasis mine.)
The
primary message coming through in my reflections this Lenten season focuses on
my need to rely on God, live into God’s will, and trust that God will provide
and take care of all my needs. I’ve even written about how I know that doing exactly
that is always the best decision I can make. But, human that I am, it becomes
difficult when I sit down in front of the black and red of my budget and wonder
how to make it work. How do I know when I’m trying to figure it out or if I’m
trying to follow God’s lead? One thing at a time. Plenty of prayer and plenty
of trust.
My
prayer today is that I continue striving toward God’s will, not my own, even
when it comes to my finances. May I trust him with my money and tear down the
fears which stand between me and my pure belief that he will provide for all my
needs. Lead the way, God, I’m right behind you.
Amen!
=D
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