Starting where we left off in my last post, we often find ourselves in the midst of financial turmoil and grief when we lose focus of our primary purpose for being alive, which is to emulate Christ each day (for the full recap first read Part 1/3). So when we wake up and find ourselves in a financial mess, what is God’s response when we call on Him? Does he care at all? Is He complacent on matters such as these? Is there any Biblical basis for even expecting His guidance for situations like this when it was our own fault we are in the mess to begin with? Using scripture as our guide I’d say yes….with some expectations. Consider the story of Elisha and the widow found in 2 Kings 4:1-7:

“A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.” So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors - empty vessels; do not gather  just a few. And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.” So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”

Wow, this story has so many messages packed into it that I could dedicate a weeks worth of posts to it, but let’s just look at a few of the basic principles found within the text. First off, this woman was recently widowed by a man who, though “fearing” God, had amassed a large amount of debt and the creditors were knocking at the door to get paid! Has anyone been there before? Have you found yourself in financial debt to the point you couldn’t keep up despite all your efforts? It was obviously a scary situation for this widow. She was crying out for help and the man God sent to answer her gave her specific instructions and a plan of escape from the mess she was in, but it did require her and her sons to follow a specific action plan. They were diligent and quick to do what the man of God told them to do and the result was a financial miracle. The underlying principle of the whole story is, “as a follower of Christ, when you call on God for help, He is faithful to answer.” Does His method of help look the same or come in the same manner every time? No, it changes from person to person as God looks at our situation, sees our hearts’ motivation behind the prayer, and He answers in the way that will bring about the most eternal good.

I find it interesting that the scriptures clearly defined that the first thing the widow was to do with the money earned from selling the oil was to repay the creditors. They were collecting on debt, a very plain and ordinary part of life for many people, but God was intentional on providing enough financial resources to cover the debt AND have enough left over to live on the rest. That is typically called a surplus, as it is more than is needed to meet the need. That shows me that God isn’t only concerned about the needs I have today, but that He is also aware of and will provide for the needs of my future.

In the final post on this topic we’ll take a look at the questions surrounding the “surplus” and “prospering” side of the discussion. What does the Bible say about living a financially prosperous life?

I believe “needs” can be divided into two simple categories; 1) Survival needs such as food, water, clothing, and shelter, and 2) everything else. Survival needs are required live regardless of your social status, geography, political party preference, or nationality. These needs are no respecters of persons or position, and without them you and I would eventually die. So what about everything else we often refer to as needs? Are they really needs at all? Does God care about them too? Where is the distinction between my wants as a person and my needs? These are legitimate questions and I will be dedicating the next three posts to this topic.

“Are they really needs at all?”

Beyond the basic survival needs that we as humans all share, there are situations that people face individually that need to be addressed in some way. If you have no regard for the law and couldn’t care less about the consequences of your actions, then you might be fine with stealing food or clothing or even shelter (might be a little hard to pull this off without many people noticing though) to supply for your own needs.

However, if you choose to be a law abiding citizen then you will need a better method for obtaining the basic needs in life. For most people this is called a JOB. You know, that old fashioned thing where if you work, you get paid? I know, it’s a radical concept for a few people just waking up from the 1970’s that are still under the delusion that life is a free ride and governments were established for the sole purpose of enabling their poor lifestyle habits. For the rest of us, a job enables us to create the financial means we need to meet the basic needs of our family. If we are smart enough not to spend every penny that comes in and instead put a little away consistently for our future, then down the road 40 or 50 years when our bodies don’t have as much steam left in them, we’ll have something to financially sustain us (I know, another amazing concept!).

Where most people get hung up is during the middle stage of our life, when our lifestyles and focus gets off track. Perhaps I should back up here. If you are a Christ follower, someone that isn’t a mere hearer of the Word (The Bible), but is a doer of the Word (James 1:22), then our focus is supposed to be one that is constantly looking for ways to share God’s love with others. Our lifestyle is supposed to emulate that of Jesus while he walked the earth. Too many people get the job, start the life they envisioned for themselves by trying to keep up with the Jones next door, and completely forget their primary purpose of being on this planet, which is to live a life that emulates Christ. Instead, they seek only to satisfy their own desires, wants, and needs, and give little to no regard to those living all around them. Of course, it’s not always a complete disregard for others or one-upping our neighbors that gets us into financial trouble. Often it’s simply doing things out of order, like buying those clothes, that plasma HDTV, or going to that nice private school, without really having the money to pay for them. We use debt instead of cash to support the lifestyle(s) we want even though we don’t have the tangible, financial means to do so. Then months, or years, later we wake up to the realization that we are drowning in our financial river of mistakes and we need help!

Is there any help for us whenever we find we need it? Is God really interested in helping us get out of our own financial messes? I’ll explore the answer to this in my next post.

(Here are the links to a few other posts related to this topic including “My Flag is Higher” and “A Spending Culture“)

The following was my response to comment made to a post from several months back that I thought would be good to revisit. Click here to see the original post of Financial Faith: By Faith.

You are correct that basic provision for needs is different from financial prosperity, and it is also relative to where in the world you abide and work and worship. For instance, in many third-world nations you’d be considered very financially prosperous if you owned a vehicle to drive or if you had twice the average SF’s of farmland to work with. In nations such as America, Canada, or many European countries, financial prosperity often is gauged by the “surplus” that you mentioned. It isn’t the numerical amount that defines prosperity, but the portion in comparison to your needs.

“Needs”, as you defined them, would be limited to items that are only needed for survival. You could also use the word “necessities” to illustrate the point that depending on your geography in the world will greatly determine what your necessities are. For instance, a nomad living in the Sarah Desert has little need for heat, but has a great need for water, while a family living on a river in Siberia has less of a need for water, but a great need for heat. Is the person in Siberia praying for heat just as important to God as the nomad praying for water in the desert? Are the necessities of a family living in a country of great abundance and opportunity any less important to God than a family living in a desolate and war-torn land?

According to scripture they are one in the same regardless of their geographical position or the implied “needs” they desired met. “I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Ph. 4:18-19, NIV). In this passage Paul writes that he received more than he needs required, and that the gift was pleasing to the Lord. It goes on to say that the Lord will supply ALL of our needs. The scriptures show us time and time again that God is looking at the heart of the giver and the receiver and weighs the motives of each, and based on the heart and motives He sees comes the reward.

Finally, the issue of focusing on the needs of others over our own is constant message throughout scripture. All true Christ followers should be looking for ways each day to help those less fortunate than ourselves. God even says that we are to be “give generously” to those in need (Deut. 15:7-11, NIV). So if God’s people are blessed in numerous ways including financially, doesn’t it stand to reason that we are in a better position to be the type of generous giver that God expects us to be? And if God expects us to be generous givers to those in need doesn’t it line up with His Word to be blessed with all of our needs met and living in a position to be a blessing to those in need all around us?

I’ll leave the discussion with this point to think on. Christ looks at the heart of all individuals to determine who He can trust with spiritual and physical gifts alike, and because of this, He is the best judge to determine into whose lives a surplus of financial blessing will best be utilized for His eternal good. That being the case, I’ll continue to live in such a way that He would count me trustworthy of that blessing, and to equip me with the wisdom in how to give generously each day.

Hope. Do you have it? In the midst of the media bombarding us with negative outlooks on the housing market, the political scene, world crisis, and natural disasters it can be difficult to find a positive voice offering hope. Sure, each politician running for election is promising that they have the solutions to all of the messes that previous politicians have supposedly made, but that’s nothing we aren’t accustomed to hearing every four years. No, real hope is what I’m talking about. I’m talking about a hope that doesn’t disappoint, doesn’t fall apart after someone is elected, doesn’t leave me thinking that there must be something more than what I’m seeing.

Real hope isn’t more finances. If having a lot of money equalled hope than Americans as a whole should be the most hopeful people in the world, but we’re not. Real hope isn’t limited to something we can manufacture or produce on our own. It takes something, someone bigger than oneself to give us hope that lasts and endures through good times and the bad. A statement like this stands in the face of today’s secular thinking which would suggest that we have everything we need to be a whole person. That we have no need for an outside source for strength, hope, love, encouragement, direction, guidance, wisdom, truth, peace, or salvation. But the truth is that to really experience and keep all of the those needs just listed we do need someone bigger than oneself to give them to us. One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Romans 5:3-6 which communicates where to find real hope:

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us – they help us learn to endure. And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation (hope) of salvation. And this expectation (hope) will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.” (New Living Translation)

As people, we have a natural tendency to take all the credit for when our life is going great, and to point the finger of blame towards everyone else when it’s not. It takes a honest person to admit that real success and strength in the tough times comes from beyond themself. The verse in Romans paints that picture well. What am I saying in simple terms? If you want real hope, something that isn’t an illusion and doesn’t changes with the seasons, then you need the One that created hope in the first place for all of us. His name is Jesus Christ, and I would challenge you to get to know Him.

Have you heard this issue phrased this way before? It’s almost as if they are supposed to be polar opposites. “Hey, I’m poor but I’m holy!” or “If your wealthy then you’re not truly devoted to Christ.” These types of comments couldn’t be any further from the truth of God’s Word. The way it should be said is God’s plan is for us to experience prosperity with a purpose!

For many people the debate of whether prosperity can be intertwined with our faith and devotion to Christ has been determined by our upbringing. Perhaps you have belonged to a church that preached that the two had no common ground and it was wrong to desire financial prosperity in your life. Or maybe you have been part of a ministry that went to the extreme opposite end on the issue, claiming that there must be sin or other issues going on in your life if you weren’t prospering financially. Biblically speaking, both of these perspectives are off base and need to be addressed with sound financial doctrine.

For this reason I will be starting a blog series called Financial Faith. Hopefully this series helps answer the questions you have regarding God’s perspective on His people being prosperous in their life on earth, principles for achieving His financial will for your life, and methods for putting everything into practice. We’re talking about financial doctrine here, so prepare yourself to grow and be challenged in your financial faith! If you have specific questions you would like addressed in this series, you can send an anonymous comment or a private e-mail at gabe@moneytalkwithgabe.com, and I’ll do my best to address and answer each one as part of the series.