- 1 Cor. 16:14
God is shaking Heaven and Earth; He is trying to get our attention. He wants us to be ready for what is coming next. Have you ever needed to use your flashlight only to realize there are no batteries in it or the batteries have expired? God wants us to be prepared; He also wants us to be fully-charged so we will be ready to aid and assist those that were not prepared – and that includes carnal Christians who have taken their focus off of God and are lost in the affairs of this world.
My pastor put it best when he told us recently that we are not human beings in a spiritual world, but we are spiritual beings in a human world. We are not to get side-tracked or caught up in the things of this world. Material possessions cannot pay our bills; in fact owning too many material possessions is what created our bills in the first place. There is an economic storm coming, and if we are not first prepared spiritually, we will not be prepared to handle what is coming our way physically.
I know many church leaders, including myself, that have been laid off from our jobs recently and we have watched as our savings and finances dwindled down to almost nothing. We have learned to let go of our finances, disconnect our cable TV (or at least the premium channels), make our own coffee, and do without things we thought we could never do without. In the process, we have all found more time to spend with God; henceforth, we have found more peace, more joy and a greater trust in God who will sustain us in a time of lack. God is using our “downtime” to “download” into us strength, wisdom, and especially faith in Him.
God is shaking Heaven and Earth to get our attention. Would you share your secrets with a total stranger, or do you save your most precious secrets for your best friend? God desires to share His secrets with us; He desires for us to fellowship with Him. He wants us to know what is about to happen, but most people have become strangers to God. They only talk to God when they want something, and thus, have become estranged from God. Now, more than ever, is the time to sit at the Lord’s feet, and listen to what He has to say. God is trying to warn us of events about to take place because He loves us so much, and He wants to make sure that we are not caught off guard like the women who were unprepared with no oil in their lamps.
1“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
6“And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ 7Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
11“Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
13“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
History has a tendency to repeat itself. “Oh, there will never be another depression,” people say. “Really?” Look around you. This is no recession. There is more to it. I do not care what the news media is telling you. What is God telling you? Draw close to Him, ask Him, and He will tell you the truth. Think about it. Why would God remove the finances of faithful ministers if He were not teaching them how to endure living through a time of sacrifice and famine? God is training them, i.e., those people that are willing to suffer and sacrifice, who choose to lay their lives down to help others. They are being prepared by God himself to minister to people during a time of famine and lack.
Don’t you want to be the people who are willing to lose material items, so that you can effectively minister to people who, for too long, trusted in themselves, or their paychecks, or their stock tips. The ironic thing about people trusting in their money is that printed on our U.S. dollars on the back is a warning from God that says, “In God We Trust.” God doesn’t want us putting our trust in the money
6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
Our recent losses these past couple of years are actually a good thing; they are building endurance in us. Our roots are growing deep. God is making us stronger in our faith towards Him, and we are learning to rely less on the world system. We are trusting less in material possessions to sustain us, and trusting more in God to sustain us.
God promises to meet our needs. Philippians 4:19 reads: And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. God has got us covered.
God knows what lies ahead; He is not surprised by the current economic events taking place around the world. Luke 12:29-32 confirms to us that God has taken care of everything for us even before we know we need it.
29 “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. 30For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. 31But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. 32“Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
God has already made provision for us during difficult financial times, so there is no need for us to worry. Let me close with Luke 12:22-24:
22 Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. 23Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. 24Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds?
Actually, let me close with this. This article started out to be one thing, but turned into another. That was God’s doing. It has often been said that when God leads a minister to write a sermon, that sermon is usually for the ministering of the minister themselves more so than it is for his or her congregation, and this minister is no different. I am going through the same financial hardship that many of you are going through. May this article give you the same peace and comfort it just gave me.
Cross Creek Bridge Ministries
P.O. Box 572391
Tarzana, CA 91357
Tel: (818) 881-2009
Toll-Free: (877) 303-CCBM (2009)
Cross Creek Bridge Ministries is a qualified IRS Section 501(c)(3) Organization