Sunday, April 2, 2017

Money Fixes Things

Money Fixes Things
April 3, 2017
Hebrews 12:7 "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?"

We have all day dreamed about the exact sum of money that would fix so many of our problems. Sadly, for me, the amount is upwards of $200,000 to finish raising monies for two foreign adoptions, to pay off old business ventures, and to delete my school loans.  For you the amount may be much, much smaller.  Even $10,000 has the power to change someone's life radically.  Some of you have a larger amount needed to fix the problems in your life. The day dream about money, or even the selfish transactions you have with your money, reveal you are trying to fix a perceived problem. If you just had enough money to fix the problem, then life would be so much easier, so much more hassle free. My argument for you today, is that no amount of money can truly fix your problem. Your problem isn't a physical one that can be solved with money, even if money is owed. Your problem is far greater, far more important than you realize.

For most of us, the problem needing riddance is creating hardship in our lives. Hardship is the direct result of two things: your stupid mistakes or something else beyond your ability to control. Neither of those things can be fixed with any amount of money. Hardship is there, in your life right now, and money cannot solve it. Money can temporarily fix the problem, but it is not a solution. Money is an effort to make the problem go away, bury it, put it in the past so you don't have to talk about it any longer. That isn't how the Lord designed this life. The Lord designed your hardship, your difficulty, to disciple you, to teach you valuable lessons so you'll be a more mature person. If you had all the money in the world, to fix your problems, you'd just be avoiding the reason for the problem in the first place. The problem is there, and the Bible says to view that problem as discipleship, meant to teach you and train you. If you've used money to get rid of it, you've actually gotten rid of your valuable lesson, failing to learn or be changed how the Lord intends for you. This actually causes more harm than good.

Maybe the problem you're trying to fix with money is the result of bad decisions and taking on debt. True, money is owed, but you have to learn the lesson of debt first before the money will be there to resolve it. Notice I said resolve, rather than fix. Money fixes things, learning your lesson through the hardship, that resolves it. The Lord wants to resolve so many problems in your life, but money ends up being a band aid type fix. Money can only change the circumstance temporarily, but the Lord loves you enough to let you experience it again and again until you learn the valuable lesson He needs for your to learn. If you've used money to get rid of the problem, then you'll find yourself in the same problem again. Money does fix things, but can never truly resolve them.

Maybe the problem you're trying to fix is the direct result of circumstances far beyond your control. Your desire to fix it or throw money at it to make it go away will not actually resolve it. If it happened beyond your influence, your desire to fix, wiggle any way out of it possible, it is an attempt to control things. You cannot control anything. If the Lord is still on His throne, and still in charge of what happens in this world, then the Lord allowed the circumstances beyond your control. Using money to fix a problem is an effort to circumvent the Lord's work in your life. My argument for you today is to learn from the Lord's work in your life and suddenly the barricade will be moved. The Lord has all the money in the world and can move that mountain to resolve your situation, but my guess is He won't until you've submitted to the work He is trying to do in your life.

That situation you are trying to get rid of, it will still be your problem unless you've learned all that the Lord needs for you to learn. Learn your lesson and my guess is He will resolve your situation.

I challenge you to read all the verses below.

Don't take my word for it; look it up:  Gen 22:1-2, Exodus 15:24-26, Exodus 20:20, Deut 8:2, Deut 8:16, Deut 13:3, Judges 2:21-23, Romans 8:28, James 1:2-4

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