Do You Have Enough?

Proverbs 30:8-9

⁸ Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
    give me neither poverty nor riches;
    feed me with the food that is needful for me,
⁹ lest I be full and deny you
    and say, “Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor and steal
    and profane the name of my God.

So how much money are you going to spend this month on stuff you might not need?  Not that there is anything wrong with getting and receiving gifts.  Personally I love it.  And for those wondering, I love Madden and look good in blue.....

How much is too much though?

We are constantly caught in this back and forth where the things we have seem to never be enough.  And, when we have a lot of stuff, the stuff we do have loses some of its appeal. 

The words of this Proverb are challenging.  Neither poor nor rich.  Why?  Because dwelling in either extreme can be the fertile soil of sin.  When we have too much, we begin to find our contentment in those things.  The way we value our experience and selves becomes shaped by the comforts we have acquired.  When we have too little, we can fall into a cycle of bad decisions in a desperate attempt to alleviate the condition.

What is the solution?

Trusting God for daily bread.

A consistent theme through out scripture is to enter into each day trusting that God is who He says He is.  A good and loving father.  And that He will meet the needs you have, Himself. 

This is so hard for us to do.  The Israelites were told to not save any manna as a daily act of trusting that even tomorrow, God would take care of them again.

We struggle so much with that.  Just like the Israelites we want to control things ourselves.  Laying ourselves down before God and allowing Him to do what it is we need is a total act of humility and trust.  Two things that I know I am not good at it.  And I am assuming you aren't much better than me, so it is safe to say this is a struggle for you as well.

But this is more than just "food" or "money".  This is an all encompassing picture of the goodness and provision of God. 

How about emotionally?  Spiritually?  Physically? 

In all areas of our lives God is calling us to stop doing it ourselves.  He has the exact right amount we need to see this through to the other side. 

Does this not feel like your experience though?

Let me challenge you, and me, with this.  I am betting that we rarely actually do live out a practice of trust.  We often just go to the same well(our own) to deal with the challenges in life.  And then we wonder where God is, as we stand with our backs to Him.  This week lets put into practice actually coming to God, hat in hand, and trusting Him to meet us right where we are and take care of us.

Practical Steps:
1)  Get in the Word, hear from God so that you can see where He is moving
2)  Pray more.  Pray honestly about those challenges you are facing
3) Talk to someone.  One of the hardest things for us to do is to open up and be honest with a fellow Christian.  Go to someone who you know is walking with God.  God speaks to us through His people.  Do you need help seeing through the haze of your own trials.  Get a friendly guide.

Remember, be careful where you get your Manna from