Finances may produce more fear and anxiety than any other element of our world. Otherwise strong men and women awaken in the middle of the night drenched in a cold sweat worried about their money problems. When they don’t awaken in middle of the night, it’s often because they haven’t yet fallen asleep from ruminating about their bank account. Finances will make people do crazy things, like sell their bodies, borrow money they can’t repay from people who will oppress them for their debt, or avoid fixing necessary things that must be fixed – like their health, their house, or their car. This is really no surprise. Almost everything in human life intersects with money in some way. The truth is that if there’s no dough, there’s no show. Money is a necessity. But you don’t have to fear finances. Here are a number of reasons why you shouldn’t fear finances:
1) It’s a Matter of Discipline: Proverbs 22:7 spells it out nicely. The borrower is slave to the lender. If you don’t want to be that slave, then avoid borrowing money. Be disciplined so you know how much money you have, what you need to survive at a reasonable level, and how much work you need to do to acquire that level. One of the keys to acquiring such discipline is found in Hebrews 13:5 – avoid a love of money (and shiny things) and be content with what you have, knowing that you have Jesus wherever you go. Keep a budget, stick to it, and know where your money goes. Save and invest whatever you can, whenever you can (Proverbs 13:11). Barring some tragedy or catastrophe, if you do all these things, you won’t have money troubles. If you already have money troubles, doing these things will go far to get you out of them.
2) It’s a Matter of Diligence: Proverbs 10:4 tells us that a slack hand causes poverty, and that a diligent one makes a person rich. If you want to see wealth, you’ll have to work for it. One of the ironies of life is that if you want to be comfortable, you’ll have to sweat and forego some comfort. Proverbs 21:20 teaches us that a wise man’s house is full of nice things, but a foolish man consumes all of those things. The writer is telling us to be diligent in our savings and preparations, and disciplined in our consumption.
3) It’s a Matter of Faith: Faith and fear exist in an inverse relationship. The greater your faith, the less your fear. The greater your fear, the less your faith. Matthew 6:25-34 tells us that God will take care of us, even in regards to finances. Proverbs 3:9-10 and Malachi 3:10 tell us that when we are faithful, God is faithful.
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