Producing Wealth
I had only been working my career job for just a few years, when we were in a mild recession and wages were frozen. My instructor, who trained all the new service representatives, was taking a new position and his job was now available. Even though I didn’t have the time or experience with the company, I applied anyway. They told me to forget it, there were other people who had been with the company for 10 years or more who were in line for the job.
A few months later I was told that the other people had turned down the position and that if I wanted it, the job was mine! At a time when no one was getting raises, due to job change to a much higher paying position, I received a 20% raise!
You can say to yourself: “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for he is the one who gives you the ability to produce wealth, (Deuteronomy 8:17,18 NIV)
Wealth could be clothing worn in the desert for forty years that was not worn. Or the manna that came every morning. Or the water that was provided in the desert of the hard rock. Wealth is not having need of anything.
In my life God provided the jobs, the people I came in contact with, the solutions to the problems I faced and I didn’t need anything. I would say that I was rich! Sometimes we count wealth as the amount of money we have in the bank. But when do we have enough to say we are rich? How much money do we need to be rich? If we measure wealth by the amount of money we have, we will always be looking for more. But if we can say that all our needs have been satisfied, then we can say that we are truly rich.
When our parents needed health insurance, God provided an inheritance that, when invested, provided returns that more than covered the cost of insurance and medications. Our needs and theirs were met even before we were aware of the problem.
Earning wealth is very tricky, we earn money not wealth. Wealth is much more than money, it is everything, a state of mind, it is something that cannot be measured. Someone told me recently that if I only had one why I would be a man. I think what he was really telling me was that he would be rich. I prayed that God would provide him with a car. If we had to walk or take a taxi or have someone drive us every time we go somewhere, then owning a car would make us feel rich!
When will we have enough money to be rich? When all our needs are met. At that point we are rich, more is simply richer. When we have more than we need, we can help others meet their needs and then become rich too.
Wealth can come in strange packages. We had been thinking about getting a dog for several years, but we put it off knowing all the problems a pet can sometimes cause. It would have to be the right kind of dog, since we have two people in our ninety year old house. We looked at a few but always found some reason to wait, money was not an issue, we were willing to pay a good price for the right dog.
A lady who loved the puppies but gave them away when they grew up and was looking for a good home for a Yorkshire so we said we would be interested. The dog was more than we could have wished for. He was perfect for the family, old enough not to cause much trouble, easy to train, and best of all, a treat for our older parents. The dog was free, except for the normal maintenance costs of a pet. The pleasure we have had with the new dog is a wealth beyond measure, and we did nothing to obtain it.
We may think that we are in control and that through our power and strength we produce wealth, but if we remember the circumstances, we will see that nothing that happens to us is possible without God’s help.
And why is he doing this for us? To confirm his pact, which he swore to our ancestors. However, there is a strong warning for those who forget the Lord and follow other gods. They will be destroyed! So if we want to be rich, we just need to obey the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ron and Joy have a very nice house in Florida. They had wanted to move north for several years, and Ron’s job was in jeopardy due to the housing market crash. They tried to sell for a year without success. Last week my wife prayed with them that God would send someone to buy her house. Tonight we got a call, a lady from Canada knocked on the door and she was asking about the house next door that was on the market. While Joy was telling her about the house, her daughter-in-law talked about it and said that this house is for sale! The lady explained that she had just flown in for the week to find two houses for her and her friend and they liked both houses.
How rich we are to have a Father who answers our prayers and quickly supplies our needs.