Over the last few weeks our church has gone through some difficult times. Like any church where God is working, Satan works all the harder to oppose His work. I am sure that if you have been in a church that preaches the Word of God, you have experienced something like this.
This Sunday we started a 10 week series in another local church on God’s Economy. Neither of these two events is that terribly unusual in themselves, but what was unusual to me, was how one connected with the other.
Since it was the first week in the God’s Economy study, we taught the first principle of living by God’s Economy. This is a basic understanding that God owns everything. Many passages in the Bible remind us of this fundamental truth, but if you need a quick refresher, meditate on 1 Chronicles 29:11-12. God owns everything; we are simply stewards or managers. (1 Corinthians 4:1-2)
Part of understanding that God owns our money is holding it with an open hand. When we hold our money too tightly we quickly lose sight that it is God’s and He has the right to do with it what He desires. This may include removing it from us.
But what really hit me this weekend, is that the principles of God’s Economy apply to more than just money. They apply to all areas of my life. My relationship with people in my church may change. God may even remove some of these relationships, but just like money, I must be willing to let them go and hold them loosely. They are God’s, not mine. I manage them and care about them, but just like money, I am simply the manager.
Once we recognize that God is the owner of everything (not just money) it really does become incredibly freeing. Our role as stewards or managers expands and also becomes much clearer. We are not the person in charge, but merely the steward of all that we have been given to manage. This includes our relationships, our time, our talents and so much more than just money.
Our desire to control our relationships, our money and our time, becomes secondary to God’s leading and ultimate control in these areas. As things change we must accept these changes and embrace the new opportunities God has presented to us. Our job is simply to be the best steward of what God has placed in our lives.
Once we have developed total trust in the One who is the owner and we are totally committed to being the best manager we can be, our journey though life becomes so much easier. Things will change but our responsibility to be a faithful steward of what has been entrusted to us does not change.
I need to understand and apply this lesson into my life and expand it to cover more than just money. I must learn to hold on tight to the relationship with the Owner and not the things and relationships that He has given me to manage. He will change those relationships and things, but I can rest assured that He has my well being and best interests in mind as He makes those changes.
It is hard for me to hold not only my money; but my relationship with my loved ones, my church, and my time with a loose grip. God is owner and I am just the manager. He may change what I am to manage, but what a blessing it is to know that God’s plans include welfare and not calamity and a future of hope for His children. Jeremiah 29:11-14
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