God's Wisdom In A Nutshell

Hello,

With the election coming and talk about socialism everywhere, I thought I’d explore how it relates to biblical teachings.

First of all, I believe people come to socialism for several reasons but let me give you one example.

Let’s say a college senior, months away from graduation, is sitting with a mountain of student loan debt and finding it hard to secure a job. The promises from the socialist camp look pretty enticing.  They are offering to cancel all student loan debt or a portion of it depending on income. A college senior with no job prospects might look at that offer as a way out of many problems and a quick way into financial freedom.

When the government starts to provide for people, we start to look away from God as our source. Let me explain it like this…

When we were children and found ourselves with a need, we would ask our parents to provide for us. We didn’t worry about our need because we could count on our Mom and/or Dad. Sometimes a need wasn’t met- perhaps due to our disobedience. This is a good pictoral of how we should view our heavenly Father.

If we study the Bible and learn who God is, we find that He takes pleasure in providing for us. Through our faith in Him, He provides spiritually by saving us from Hell. He will provide for the health issues of His followers because He is our ultimate healer- “And by His stripes we are healed.”(Isaiah 53:5c) And He provides for us financially- because He redeemed everyone from the curse of poverty, sickness and sprititual death.(Gal 3:13). These benefits are for those who choose to stay connected to Him – He is the vine we are the branches and with our close association to our heavenly Father all followers of Jesus’ teachings will be blessed in full.

Maybe the problem isn’t socialism- maybe it’s society today.

Have we have taught our children, through our actions, that our financial stability is all up to us? Have we modeled excessive work at the expense of time with them? Is the topic of money talked about more than conversation about our heavenly provider?

When we don’t look to the Lord as our provider, our children can start to look elsewhere when they are in a dire financial situation- like massive student loan debt. When we know Scripture we know that many verses and teachings of the Lord both in the Old Testament and the New, reveal that provision and prosperity are part of the blessing God bestows on His followers. Below is a Psalm about how the follower of the Lord acts and what he/she receives because of it:

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,  but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night.  That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.”(Psalm 1:1-3)

God is our provider. He can lead a person who honors Him to a job or a business idea that will pay off student loan debt fast.

“But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.”(Deut 8:18)

We were meant to need the Lord- not government. We were created to have a relationship with our Creator and to ask for guidance in each decision we make. This allows the Lord to guide us quickly to the best path for our life and with it  health, provision and joy.  Having excessive wealth can be a huge road block to our dependance on the Lord. When we can pay for anything we need, we may feel that we don’t need the Lord -but this is erroneous thinking! God is also our healer and money cannot buy health. If we follow the Lord, He will use His rod and staff to lead us to a healthy lifestyle. Not only that, He is the only person who can supernaturally heal any disease and that is something money cannot buy. Financial self sufficiency can cause us to say “I don’t need God, I have everything I need.”

Socialism is just a symptom of people looking for a way out- people who either don’t know the Lord or haven’t trusted Him. It’s time that obedient Christians share their faith and their experiences trusting the Lord to provide. These stories can bring others into the kingdom of God on earth- the place of supernatural assisstance, finding our purpose and miracles.

I say forget socialism- God is our provider and He is waiting for us to trust Him. It’s important that we don’t try to figure out His ways. Our best life is found when we simply acknowledge that He knows best and then travel on that road. His leading will provide for our material needs without dominating our time, causing mental and physical exhaustion or loss of significant time with our family.

Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.”(Matt 22:29)

God’s ways are best, we don’t need the government to take care of us- our Creator does a far better job.

I hope you start to trust Him more this week!

All my best,

Lisa