The path to financial freedom

You wouldn’t normally expect to read that title on something from a mission agency. Aren’t we concerned with eternal not material matters?

Right now we’re thinking about moving house. It is going to cost us four times as much as we move out of community and into the burbs! And because our income is from donations we have no idea whether it will go up or down. In prayer and communication with others it still feels like the best choice to make. There’s freedom when we say, “I don’t make decisions based on finance”

Common sense tells us to make our first question: Can I afford this? Of course that’s quite good advice when expanding your wardrobe or upgrading your house and car package. But it is not the right question when you’re considering your life journey with Jesus. Maybe the question needs to be: Where’s my focus? When our focus is on the living triune God who is of supreme value and the ultimate satisfaction of our lives then our finances get put in their rightful place.

Money can be our master, Jesus said so. It can be a key factor in the decisions we make and in how we feel about ourselves and our future. We usually think that having enough money so that we are free to do what we want is financial freedom. But really it’s having enough trust in God to be free to do what he wants. Trusting God instead of money is the path to financial freedom. Whether it is an opportunity to live in a different place or opportunity for expansion and outreach, basing our decisions on the promises of God, rather than finances available, is a magnificent way to live!!

What about relational freedom? Are the same principles at play? Is trusting God, instead of people, the path to relational freedom?  Check out some of the other stories posted this month.  In actuality, mission involves trusting God in a myriad of ways; with kids, money, visas, jobs, relationships. The path to freedom is paved with trust…