I can honestly confess that 2008 has been the worst year in terms of the state of the economy that I can ever recall in my generation. I believe many people will agree with me that we are facing one of the worst financial hardships in recent years.
We can see it in the news and all around us, high gasoline and food prices, the housing market keeps declining at an alarming rate, many small & medium sized businesses have closed their doors and even large organizations like Lehman Brothers are on the verge of bankruptcy. Also, thousands of people have lost their jobs, and many have lost their homes, the list goes on and on.
However, despite all these financial challenges we are facing today, God is telling His people in Psalm 111:5 that He will provide for those who fear Him and He will always remember His covenant with His children. Needless to say, we have no reason to fear because He is going to keep His promise to take care of us even in these tough times.
As human beings, it is not unusual to fear or begin to panic when we have just been laid off from our jobs or have just had our homes foreclosed, but we need to remember the word of God during these challenging times who said in Psalm 50:15 that we should call upon Him in the day of trouble and He will deliver us. His ways are not the world’s ways and so no matter what is going on around us, we need not fear because He is our Source, the giver of life and all good things. He is Jehovah Jireh, our provider and also our shepherd who promises us that we will not want for anything Psalm 23:1.
We as believers, must recognize that God is truly our Source, for He is the one who provides our finances. Our jobs are not our source and so when we now are laid off from our place of employment, we should not feel hopeless or fearful because our God is a limitless God, He can provide through other avenues when we least expected. I can attest to that for He has delivered me this year alone more than once from financial distress. Out of nowhere on more than two occasions, I found myself in situations where I didn't know how my bills will get paid since I had been unemployed for about three months. God, in his infinite mercy surprised my family and I by creating other financial means to pay my debts, for example, one incident was when we were praying to God desperately to deliver us out of the financial situation we were in back in July and a few day later, we received an electronic transfer into our account from the government, for money we were being owed and on another occasion, a check came in the mail, money I never knew was earning interest in an investment account that I honestly forgot about. It was incredible, our God is truly awesome, He may not come when we want Him to, but He is always on time and when we least expect Him to show up.
In Matt 6:26, the word of God reassures us that if He, God takes care of the birds of the air, then we must believe that He is going to provide for us also. Brethren, believe in the Lord’s words during these difficult times and trust Him to meet all our needs. Also, let’s worship Him through our tithes and offerings for it is very important to do this especially in times of financial difficulties. I want to believe that it wasn’t only my prayers that moved the hand of God in my situation, but it was also the fact that my husband and I were faithful in our tithing even though it was quite challenging to give, He indeed proved Himself in our lives. Therefore, I admonish us to not relent in giving our tithes and offerings, it is easy for us to hold back our tithes when things are hard but i tell you its a really bad idea to do that because first of all, we are sinning against God and also it shows that we do not believe He is our Source and therefore do not trust Him to take care of us.
Let us bless and worship the Lord with our tithes and offerings, continue to give to those in need and hold God to his word in Malachi 3:10 which says "try me now says the Lord of hosts if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. He also says in Prov 28:27 that He who gives to the poor will not want, these are all God’s promises to His people and remember He is not man that He should lie, and our God does honor His word more than His name. We must put our complete trust in God for He will not disappoint us.
In conclusion, brethren I want to encourage someone today to hold God to His word by placing your needs, wants and heart desires in His hands during these challenging times for He is indeed your source. Do not allow the enemy to rob you of your joy by causing you to live in a state of worry and depression instead remember God’s goodness in your lives, the times in the past He provided for your household and appreciate Him for all those times. Once you have done so, ask Him also for the strength and ability to trust Him again for your daily needs in these times of financial hardship, give thanks to Him who is able to make a way where there appears to be none. Brethren, our God who is faithful and true shall meet all your needs according to His riches in glory. Philippians 4:19.
