Remember Your Source
For far too long, it seems like we as a people have put too much confidence in the stock market than in God as our financial source. The logic seems to have gone somewhat like this: “Just work hard, save up a bit and invest in a retirement account, and you will be just fine.” So, even when we talk about trusting God for everything, for many of us, our financial future was never really something we had to trust God about – we had it planned out. That is, until recently.
Please understand that it is important for us to save and invest in the future. We have to. We must. But the point is that we must always remember that God alone is our Source and Sustainer. We have a Father in heaven who cares about us, and is passionately in touch with our feelings of infirmity. He knows how bad you are hurting. He knows the loss you have suffered. He is the giver of all good things: “So, my very dear friends, don't get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light” (James 1: 16-17, MSG). Dear brother, sister, “don’t get thrown off course.” These are trying times, no doubt. But we have a Father in heaven. The word “father” means “source and sustainer.” It means that God is our strength, salvation. In deed, it means that God is all we need, for in him, we find ultimately the full supply of every need: "Yes, indeed—God is my salvation. I trust, I won't be afraid. God—yes God!—is my strength and song, best of all, my salvation!" (Isaiah 12: 2, MSG).
Oh, how awesome it will be for us all to sing with Isaiah that “God is in deed my song and my salvation.” God is. It’s not that God will provide strength, joy, finance, new job; but that God is my new job, my promotion, my financial security, my all. What a revelation. What freedom this will bring us. Please take time to meditate on Psalm 27, Psalm 46, and Isaiah 12. Hopefully, you may catch a glimpse of the insight that brought these elders joy and faith unspeakable. Look at Isaiah’s response when he understood that God was his source and sustainer in life: “Joyfully you'll pull up buckets of water from the wells of salvation. And as you do it, you'll say, "Give thanks to God. Call out his name. Ask him anything! Shout to the nations, tell them what he's done, spread the news of his great reputation!” (Isaiah 12: 3-4, MSG) Or, this one by David: “The Lord is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?” (Psalm 27:1, NLT).
These responses show us that we can be hopeful, joyful and prayerful when we understand that God is our Source. Hopeful because God can not fail: “Don't be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, "I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you," we can boldly quote, God is there, ready to help; I'm fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?” (Hebrews 13: 5-6) Joyful, because joy is the natural response in knowing that God is there for us, and that he can never fail us. Joy is also our strength, and the instrument of grace that connects us with the Source: “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart” (Psalm 37: 4, Amplified Bible). Consequently, we can get into prayer and ask God specifically for what we need now, after all, Jesus said: “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him” ( Matthew 7: 11, NLT).
To sum things up, remember that God is your source. Go back to him. Relax in his presence, meditate on him, and bring your petitions directly to him: “Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life” (Philippians 4: 6-7, MSG). God sure cares for you. He is able and willing to grant you a brand new beginning.
For far too long, it seems like we as a people have put too much confidence in the stock market than in God as our financial source. The logic seems to have gone somewhat like this: “Just work hard, save up a bit and invest in a retirement account, and you will be just fine.” So, even when we talk about trusting God for everything, for many of us, our financial future was never really something we had to trust God about – we had it planned out. That is, until recently.
Please understand that it is important for us to save and invest in the future. We have to. We must. But the point is that we must always remember that God alone is our Source and Sustainer. We have a Father in heaven who cares about us, and is passionately in touch with our feelings of infirmity. He knows how bad you are hurting. He knows the loss you have suffered. He is the giver of all good things: “So, my very dear friends, don't get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light” (James 1: 16-17, MSG). Dear brother, sister, “don’t get thrown off course.” These are trying times, no doubt. But we have a Father in heaven. The word “father” means “source and sustainer.” It means that God is our strength, salvation. In deed, it means that God is all we need, for in him, we find ultimately the full supply of every need: "Yes, indeed—God is my salvation. I trust, I won't be afraid. God—yes God!—is my strength and song, best of all, my salvation!" (Isaiah 12: 2, MSG).
Oh, how awesome it will be for us all to sing with Isaiah that “God is in deed my song and my salvation.” God is. It’s not that God will provide strength, joy, finance, new job; but that God is my new job, my promotion, my financial security, my all. What a revelation. What freedom this will bring us. Please take time to meditate on Psalm 27, Psalm 46, and Isaiah 12. Hopefully, you may catch a glimpse of the insight that brought these elders joy and faith unspeakable. Look at Isaiah’s response when he understood that God was his source and sustainer in life: “Joyfully you'll pull up buckets of water from the wells of salvation. And as you do it, you'll say, "Give thanks to God. Call out his name. Ask him anything! Shout to the nations, tell them what he's done, spread the news of his great reputation!” (Isaiah 12: 3-4, MSG) Or, this one by David: “The Lord is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?” (Psalm 27:1, NLT).
These responses show us that we can be hopeful, joyful and prayerful when we understand that God is our Source. Hopeful because God can not fail: “Don't be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, "I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you," we can boldly quote, God is there, ready to help; I'm fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?” (Hebrews 13: 5-6) Joyful, because joy is the natural response in knowing that God is there for us, and that he can never fail us. Joy is also our strength, and the instrument of grace that connects us with the Source: “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart” (Psalm 37: 4, Amplified Bible). Consequently, we can get into prayer and ask God specifically for what we need now, after all, Jesus said: “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him” ( Matthew 7: 11, NLT).
To sum things up, remember that God is your source. Go back to him. Relax in his presence, meditate on him, and bring your petitions directly to him: “Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life” (Philippians 4: 6-7, MSG). God sure cares for you. He is able and willing to grant you a brand new beginning.
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