True Riches

The amount of money in your bank account is a poor way to measure wealth. 

True riches cannot be handled with your hands, but must be felt with your heart and experienced with your life. God, His peace, His assurance. Your family, their smiles and hugs. A new birth of water and Spirit. The ability to see, to touch, to hear. To grow, to learn, to trust, to forgive...these are true riches.

If you have plenty of money in the bank, count it as a bonus in your life, not the sum total of your identity and security. 

These days, a lot of people are extremely nervous about our uncertain economy. Some are even fearful. 

Although things could change for Bill and me in a moment, up to this point, I don't think the recession has made much tremendous impact upon our lives. I have told a couple of people, "Before there was a recession, we lived as though there was a recession." By many people's standards, we are not wealthy. We don't have a retirement account, health insurance (I guess we might be forced to change that soon, "thanks" to ObamaCare!), a house, or a new truck. Ours is a frugal life with not a lot of frills. 

Traveling as a full-time evangelist really is a "walk of faith," a term old-timers used a lot. For us, 11 years of traversing the United States ministering has been a marvelous experience of watching God provide for us time and time again. The question for me generally is not IF He will provide but WHEN and HOW He will provide. Do things get tight now and then? Sure. But God always comes through. 

I wonder if perhaps - instead of becoming insecure and fearful - believers all over could initiate their own "walk of faith" during this recession? Instead of waiting for the economy to turn around - because it might not - or becoming depressed, why not use the recession as a avenue to trust God in a way that we never had to when our accounts were padded and the coffers were full? 

If we banish fear and trust God with implicit, childlike faith, we will see miracles we never anticipated.  

When we can't rely on the government, the economy, our jobs, our education, our resume, or our skills, we can still trust God! If we will allow Him, He will amaze us with His ability to provide for us...His children that He loves so much.