Day 33 - Issue 23
Psalm 31:6 NLT
'I hate those who worship worthless idols. I trust in the LORD.'
Throughout my life, God has never entrusted me with much money. I am not especially good with utilising money. That comes from a lack of interest in money as a thing. Growing up, pre-Christian, a cross between a hippy and a rocker, I had no interest in owning stuff. It wasn’t that I was especially noble or politically motivated, I just never developed an appetite to own things. There is an upside; I didn’t have much to cart around when we moved house. However, the downside is that I failed to develop any skills in making or managing money.
It’s not as though I’ve not been tempted to accumulate wealth. There is also the pressure as I enter my later years in thinking through how to maintain sufficient gainful employment to manage to live. The rising cost of living demands greater levels of income just to stand still. So I battle with my internal insecurities and struggle to find a context to talk these things through, since people find the topic of money awkward to discuss.
On the other hand, faith in God’s faithfulness has worked wonders. I have a wonderful debt-free home, I managed to pay off what to me was a very large debt following Katey’s death through an unexpected inheritance from an aunt, and I have never gone without food, as my ample frame reveals. So why is faith in God’s provision so difficult? It is perhaps that the mood music playing throughout society is one of acquisitiveness, and its enticing strains are hard to resist. I’m not immune. So I am practical. I first work out, “What do I really need to achieve?” I recognise I may not be wired to acquisition, yet I am easily allured by the ‘need’ to own something, as well as subject to peer pressure, just like all of us. I need to manage this.
QUESTION: How do you process the endless stream of marketing that envelops you every day?
PRAYER: Lord, give me a generous spirit and help me to trust you with my daily needs.
