Money … so hard because we need it for so many things … and even harder when we live in a world that constantly throws at us what the world deems we should be spending our money on. Of course when you are in the adoption process the need for money, thought of money, and usually lack of money is continually on your mind.
Our son (who will be 12 next Friday) mentioned to us on the way to church today that he would like to get braces. He has pretty crooked teeth and up to this point he is the only child presenting with a “need” for braces. “Need” … wow, maybe that isn’t the right word to use. Does he really need them? When you are called to adopt and go through times when other financial “needs” arise it can be easy to lose sight on the fact that God has called you to this and that He will provide. I actually had the thought on the way to church, “should we really be adopting when we have so many financial needs coming at us all of the time?” … and then I remember that God did specifically gave us direction in adoption and that He will provide. We started 2013 thinking that we would make updates to our kitchen. Knowing our appliances are starting to fail we thought maybe we would look at our updating kitchen. Our floors need replacing and honestly, this house is just getting older and things are at “that age” where in America we start replacing and getting something new.
As God would ordain it, our Pastor’s sermon today was on the parable of the talents (Matthew 25). He described so well how often we turn to fear and do not “go big for God” with the things that He has blessed us with. Do I want to be the servant that buries the talent in the sand? He mentioned in the sermon, “The 3rd servant went limp and passive because of a set core conviction of ‘I’m ruling here’ and Jesus has no stake in his life … he had an – it’s all mine – mentality.” Is that how I respond to the things God has blessed me with? I am afraid many times the answer is yes. What if I operated with an eternal perspective when making decisions? Am I controlled by reality or triviality? Do you ever stop to think that all of the things that we have will be gone with the blink of an eye? Do you wonder, what is all of this stuff that I have around me, and is it really that important? I am not saying that remodeling a kitchen is bad, but what I am saying is that when God is calling you to something that requires you to make different financial decisions, you will survive with the kitchen that He has already given you! Because of having to make some appliance replacements we now have a kitchen where things don’t match. Some days I walk in and wish it were different. More often, recently, I walk in and see our Ghanaian daughter’s picture on the fridge and remember that this kitchen is worlds above anything she has probably ever seen, and I have working appliances even though they don’t match! Our floors are still kind of yucky, but does it really matter? Today I can live in remembering that God is in control and that I want to have everything be what He wants from me. I want what my Pastor described as the “kingdom of me” to be dethroned! God has given us time now to do and invest in His purpose and His Kingdom … I hope that I can continually remember this!
Does God have an equitable stake in your life? It is apparent from the way you invest your time, money and yourself that God is a right and a claim on your life? If we are living for Him, he has the right to ask us where and how we are investing because He is the owner of it all! At the core of all of these decisions is obedience … Does Jesus have a claim on my life? Do I allow God to own my material life? I am not sure how this impacts our decision on braces for my son … it likely will be something that we will find the funds to get accomplished, but more importantly I want to live making every financial decision keeping in mind what God wants from me and what He wants to do through me.
