God Will Provide: Shift Your Trust from Mammon to God

 

What are we willing to do if the price is right? How much does our loyalty, our friendship, our ambition cost? One way ministers—and people in general—fail is thinking that money can solve most of the problems they encounter. The spirit of mammon attempts to assert control by offering tempting solutions and suggestions. These solutions and suggestions may seem foolproof and harmless, but, in reality, they are false or temporary.

 

“But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!” (Mark 10:24).

How is mammon involved?

A wrong relationship with money is created when we trust money more than we trust God. When this happens, we see money as our sufficient supply house when God is supposed to be our supply house. God did not give us money for us to trust it and let it govern our lives. Nonetheless, it can easily become our insurance plan when something goes wrong.

How do we know if money is governing our lives? It appears in many ways. For example, it has become increasingly common for men and women to get married for security reasons instead of love. People will also—sometimes even without meaning to—use and exploit their own friends to get ahead. Some ministers will show up to conferences, not to be edified, but to work the room; their true objective is to fill their calendars. All of the aforementioned situations indicate that an individual is motivated by mammon.

A common retort to the phrase “money can’t buy everything” is “in my universe, it can.” It is undeniably true that if our pursuit of money pays off, we will be able to buy more things. But money will always fall short. Money can buy a house, but it will never be able to buy a home. Money can buy medicine; it can’t buy healing. Money can buy a friend for the night, but it can’t buy a relationship that’ll last until Jesus comes.

Ministers versus the spirit of mammon

As ministers of the gospel and leaders who represent Christ, we must grasp that trusting God is the only way to handle our finances. If we can get this thing down, we can cut loose some of the schemes that try to control people where their financial giving is concerned. We can and must trust God to provide for us and for our ministries first. He cannot be the backup plan.

In addition to trusting money, we can find ourselves fearing it and even being afraid to discuss it outright. There is something wrong with a pastor who has ministered to a church for a period of time and never taught a financial message to his or her congregation. It is necessary to demonstrate to our congregations how to have a right relationship with money.

How can they do that unless someone teaches them? Some ministers are so afraid of negative reactions and feedback that they shirk their duty. The hypocritical part about it is that they often have success in their own finances. That success allows them to have nice things, but they don’t want to teach their people about money. They are unmoved by their congregation suffering financially because they’re scared someone’s going to disagree with them.

The promise of provision

“Then Jesus asked them, ‘When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?’ ‘Nothing,’ they answered” (Luke 22:35, NIV).

One day, Jesus sent His disciples out two by two, telling them, “Take your coat off; leave it here. Abandon your purse; leave it here.” When the disciples came back from their mission, He asked if they lacked anything, and they all said, “No, Lord.”

 

We must give Jesus the authority over our provision. He will take care of us. We don’t have to be afraid if we run out of food one day, because God will feed us. We don’t have to ask where the money will come from, because God has already taken care of it. We’ve got to learn how to take a step in faith. As leaders, trust is important to be able to see God. If we’re willing to walk with Him, He’ll train us. When we go into unchartered territory with Him, we’ll find the place we were always meant to be.