“He will have no lack of gain.” Proverbs 31:11(b)(ESV)
• The Proverbs 31 husband has a wife whom he can trust with his finances implicitly. How often have you heard the words or perhaps said them yourself “if my husband knew I had bought this I would be in serious trouble, please don’t say anything”. Not an excellent or trustworthy statement!
• There is no doubt that financial management is one of the most difficult arenas to tackle in this day and age. As human beings who are conceived in sin, you can be sure that left unchecked we grow up to be those who seek instant gratification without thought for anyone or anything else. Many people may think that money is not a spiritual responsibility but there can be no doubt that it is. First, before considering any practical issues such as budgets etc, we must consider how God is pleased in the use of what He has given us. It behoves us to remember Proverbs 4:23 that we need to guard our hearts with all diligence for out of it is the wellspring of life. May the Lord help us to search our hearts and see if we have been harbouring wrong attitudes about money and its use in our home.
a) STEWARDSHIP
We are to realise that the money that we have is not ours, it is God’s (Job 1:21) and that when we manage it correctly we do it for Him and apart from this how we manage our money is of particular interest to Him. Elizabeth George explains how she took over many of the financial responsibilities that he husband had been completing and committed herself to learning how to manage these affairs so that her husband would have more time available for ministry commitments. This is an example of being a good steward on all levels in that wise financial management was implemented resulting from a desire to help and support her husband.
The Proverbs 31 woman does not waste her money nor squander it but rather she uses her resources for God’s glory in the realisation that whatever she has been blessed with materially is as a result of God’s mercy. Even when our husband’s receive a monthly salary we should never be lulled into thinking that the money will always be in the bank thus abandoning our trust in God. He has ensured employment for our husbands and even work for ourselves so that we may have food and clothing.
1. Assessing your stewardship – how are you managing things that God has entrusted you with? (Be that your husband, your children, your home, gifts etc.)
b) TRUSTING GOD
We are to acknowledge daily that our God takes care of all our needs (not wants) and as Scripture teaches:
‘And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.’ (1Timothy 6:8).
The Word of God is clear that our Lord will provide for His children and I am sure that you can confirm this in your own lives. Consider the following Scriptures and what we are told of God’s amazing provision (for you to look up):
Matthew 6:33
Philippians 4:19
Psalm 37:45
Psalm 50:15
2 Corinthians 9:8
2. Assessing your trust in the Lord – How are you managing when it comes to trusting God? Do you trust God to take care of not only food and clothing but also to supply leadership, instruction, love, safety etc.?
A wonderful example of a man who trusted God daily for the provision of food and clothing was George Mueller. In obeying God’s call to look after orphans by feeding, clothing, housing and educating them he never once went into debt and trusted only in God’s provision as can be seen from the following quotation:
‘...But still, the first and primary object of the work was (and still is) that God might be magnified by the fact that the orphans under my care are provided with all they need, only by prayer and faith without anyone being asked by me or my fellow-labourers whereby it may be seen, that God is faithful, still, and hears prayers still.’
c) CONTENTMENT
We, as women who belong to God, are called to contentment. Contentment seems to be a significant problem for many women but God’s Word is unchanging on the issue, we are called to be women who desire to live each and every day with both the passion and purpose to be content.
The Apostle Paul shows us how we can learn to be content as we know we are not born with the ability to be content on our own! As C.H. Spurgeon said ‘You will see at once from reading the text, upon the very surface, that contentment in all states is not a natural propensity of man.’
“I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” (Philippians 4:11-12)
The Apostle Paul reminds us that even when he was abased (belittled or degraded) he was still content and when he had much as a rich person would he was still content without being full of pride. His contentment is found in the faith he has in the Son of God, in knowing that God’s will for him will always be far superior to his own and that he trusts God implicitly. Paul was not being a hypocrite – his speech shows that even when hungry or in need he had learned to be content. In every area contentment can only come from the new life Christ has given us as we submit to our Lord and learn His ways.
The context of Proverbs 31:11(b) is directly referring to a husband who has no lack of gain and who can implicitly trust his wife in all things, most especially in financial matters. But we as mothers must also consider the fact that we are living in an ever-increasing material age where our children will be faced, just as we are, with the desire for possessions and a reckless pursuit of that which does not honour God. Scripture tells us in 1 Timothy 6:10 that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. In evaluating your position within the home, let us be encouraged to consider the eternal benefits of wise financial stewardship which will be such a great blessing to our husbands but also our extended family as an example and a way of showing them that the Gospel has made a difference in all areas of our lives, especially one as uncomfortable and unpopular as money management!
We have to replace our self-indulgence with self-control – ‘Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control (Proverbs 25:28) – that is a verse that hits me right between the eyes! If we lack self-control we will not be able to pursue anything correctly as we are defenceless and in need of repair. Pray God that we will run to Him and understand that these are daily submissions that will have to be made before Him as we ask Him to provide us with the necessary grace to complete these tasks. If we have been reckless with money may we repent of this behaviour and ask the Lord to convict us by His Holy Spirit of areas in our lives where we can start to make those small changes which will honour Him.
We have looked at God’s Word and how we must be those who are good stewards, trusting God and content in what the Lord has blessed us with. When it comes to wise financial management there is no doubt that practical guidelines to curb spending are also appropriate to list. The starting point, though, is to remember that without a Scriptural basis in these areas of our lives we will fail so may we see our finances in light of eternity and may this cause us to want to be careful thereby honouring the husbands God has given us.
Let our prayer echo that of the Lord Jesus as He taught His disciples how to pray “...lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one ...” (Matthew 6:12-13)
Memory verse – Matthew 6:33
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,and all these things shall be added unto you.” (ESV)
Herewith follows a summarised list of points gleaned from Randy Alcorn’s book Money, Possessions and Eternity :
1. Realise that nothing is a good deal if you can’t afford it.
Paying R100 for a toy for our child that is normally priced at R300 sounds like an excellent bargain but if we do not have R100 spare for that month then it’s always going to be a bad choice to spend money on a good deal we can’t afford.
2. Recognise that God isn’t behind every good deal.
Even when we can afford it, it does not mean we should just buy it. Self-control means turning down good deals on things we really want because God may have other and better plans for his money.
3. Understand the difference between spending money and saving money.
Saving is setting aside money for a future purpose. Money that’s saved stays in our purse or in the bank. It can be used for other purposes, including our needs or the needs of others. Money that’s spent leaves our hands and is no longer at our disposal. If we buy a R200 jersey on sale for R80 and think we have just saved R120, we simply don’t understand the concept of saving. Where is the R120 we think we saved? It doesn’t exist. All we’ve done is spend R120. If we keep “saving” like that, we’ll soon be broke.
4. Look at the long-term cost, not just the short-term expense.
If we buy a new radio system we’ll spend money on CD’s. If something breaks we have to pay to fix it. If we purchase a new car we worry about dents and there is insurance which has to be paid. Even a free puppy can mean vet bills, dog food, and what about a fence to protect passers-by. A free puppy could very easily mean thousands of rand spent on extra expenses.
5. Pray before you spend.
When something’s a legitimate need, God will provide it. How often do we take matters into our own hands and spend impulsively before asking God to furnish it for us? How often do we buy something – whether we consider it a “want” or a “need” – a week or a month before God would have provided it for free or at a minimal cost, if only we’d asked Him? Often we either buy what we want or forego what we want when there’s a third alternative: ask God to provide it for us. If he doesn’t provide it, fine – he knows best. But why don’t we give Him the chance? Waiting eliminates most impulsive buying. Setting a waiting period gives God the opportunity to provide what we want, to provide something different or better, or to show us that we don’t need it and should the money differently.
6. Examine every purchase in light of its ministry potential.
Whenever we spend money we can also ask ourselves if this money could have been used for a ministry such as to evangelise the lost or feed the poor. We answer to God with the way we spend our money so our conscience should be clear before Him.
7. Understand and resist the manipulative nature of advertising.
Responsible spending says yes to real needs and no to most “created” needs. We have far fewer needs than we believe. The temptation to overspend is immense. Advertising’s goal is to create an illusion of need, to stimulate desire and make us dissatisfied with what God has provided. We must counter advertising with God’s Word, which tells us what we really do and don’t need.
8. Learn to walk away from things you want but don’t need.
Often we feel completely obsessed with an item and when we buy we feel unsatisfied in that we hoped for better. We need to learn to walk away from things and knowing the relief and joy we can feel in knowing that possessions do not own or possess us.
9. Realise that little things add up.
Money trickles through our hands. A few rand here and there adds up significantly! We need to fix the “leaks” in our spending habits so that we can divert the flow of income to higher purposes.
10. Set up a budget and live by it.
How do you think God feels when at the end of a month we are not able to account for the money we have been entrusted with and there is none left! “Be sure you know the condition of your flocks; give careful attention to your herds; for riches do not endure forever.” (Proverbs 27:23-24). Two tips that will help: recording expenditures and making a budget. These will help us detect problem areas by clarifying our spending habits. This will improve our mental and marital health because financial disorder is one of the leading causes of personal and familial distress. It’s not how much money we make but how we manage it that matters!
Written by:
Ruth Phillips
No comments:
Post a Comment