Economy
With the economy in a downturn, anxiety seems to be on the upswing. The stock market's wild point swings are getting so common that a 500 point seesaw doesn't even make news anymore. Folks are concerned about their jobs, the money they have invested and the money they have in the bank. The middle aged wonder will they be able to retire as they planned or are they going to have to work until they breathe their last? The aged doubt their money will outlast their bills and the young are beginning to think that living with mom and dad isn't so bad. In troubled times, never is it more vital to look for Scriptural comfort.
First, it is important to determine in what/whom does our trust lie? Is it in the financial systems, our employment or the Lord? If it is the Lord whom we trust, then we have a good biblical foundation upon which to build.
Secondly, our trust in the person of God must be supported by our understand of the Word of God. We need to know what God says about finances and security.
Third, we need to believe what He says. We must make both the faithfulness of His character and the words of His mouth a "knee jerk" reaction of belief which defies all challenging news which comes our way.
Fourth, we need to act on what He says. Faith without deeds means very little.
Lastly, we need to look at difficult financial times as more than just moments to tighten our belt. Desperate times always conceal grand opportunities for God's people to be on the receiving end of wealth transfer. There are big opportunities to be had for those who will both look for them and be prepare to take a kingdom calculated risk.
Below are some scriptures which will help build up your arsenal of faith which will reduce the mountains of financial obstacles into mole hills of testimony.
Matt 6:19-20 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matt 6:25-34 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]? 28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Prov 13:22 A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children, but a sinner's wealth is stored up for the righteous.
Prov 26:13 The sluggard says, "There is a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!" (Don't be fearful)
Eccl 11:4-6 Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. 5 As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed [a] in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. 6 Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.
Gen 8:22 "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."
Ps 107:31-38 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men. 32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders. 33 He turned rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground, 34 and fruitful land into a salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who lived there. 35 He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs; 36 there he brought the hungry to live, and they founded a city where they could settle. 37 They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest; 38 he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased, and he did not let their herds diminish.
Deut 28:1-14 If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: 3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. 4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. 5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. 6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. 7 The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. 8 The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you. 9 The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. 11 The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you. 12 The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. 13 The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. 14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.
Let the above passages be the primer to find out what else God says about the faithfulness and method of His provision. Live right, live well...