January 28

Promises

                    Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”  So we can say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.  What can anyone do to me?”

Hebrews 13:5-6

             I thought that this was going to be an easy entry to write.  I really did.  “I will never leave you or forsake you.”  God promises that He will always be with us.  Always.  In the face of darkness and despair, sleepless nights and drama-filled days, He will always be by our side.  How could that certainty be anything but heart-warming and encouraging?

            Here’s what I find:  That amazing promise is linked to a mandate to avoid chasing wealth…a mandate to choose contentment.  The promise is actually given as a piece of supporting information to back up the author’s point.  He emphasizes that we are to be content with what we have because we know that God is with us and so we do not have to fear the rest of the world.  The love of money is connected to the fear of the world.  We think that with enough money we can purchase security and certainty.  We think that with enough money the crises of the world might not touch us and we will be insulated from the pain of life.  Or we think that with enough money we would be able to buy ourselves out of the challenges of the hand that we have been dealt.  “Enough money” is never really defined, we just know it is more than we have now.  So we work harder and take on extra projects and strive for the bigger house, the better car, the better benefits package, because “enough” is just over that next hill.

            Love of money is tied to fear of the world.  What happens if I get sick?  What happens if my child ends up in the hospital again?  What happens when I get old?  Will we lose the job or the house or the car?  Are we investing in enough therapy right now to ensure that my son has a fighting chance at having a good life?  What will happen to him?  The storm threatens to overwhelm.

            In the face of all those questions and all that uncertainty comes the promise that God will never abandon us, never give up on us.  The world can do its worst, and it probably will do its worst, but the strength that we have shielding us is so much greater than threats of this world.  We can stand with confidence, certain that God holds us, and those that we love, in His hands.

            The God who created the cosmos, the God who molded Adam out of clay and breathed life into his body…this God of immense Power and incredible Intimacy is with us and has been with us through every moment of our lives.  He was with us when we fell in love.  He was with us when we fell away.  He was with us for the birth of our baby.  He was with us when we saw the panicked look flash across our doctor’s eyes.  He was with us through the sleepless nights and the long car rides and the IEP meetings.  He knows where we’ve been because He has been right there with us.  He knows what we need for the future because He’s already been there as well.

            Money, stuff and power are not insurance policies to accumulate in case God decides to leave us on our own someday.  He’s not going anywhere so the focused pursuit of those things falls into the category of idolatry.  God Himself is with us.  What do we have to fear?

A moment to reflect:

When have you felt God’s presence the most?  When have you felt it the least?