Snow and Beyond

When I was a kid, I loved the snow.  It was awesome.  You could have snowball fights, build snow forts, and go sledding.  It was so much fun to actually get to play a game of football in the snow.  And of course, the best was getting a snow day!  As an adult, I still like the snow.  After this winter in Northern Ohio, however, I am beginning to change my mind.

The way snow impacts adults is much different than the way it impacts kids.  Now, when it snows, I begin to wonder who’s going to miss church because of the weather.  I wrestle with how many times I am going to have to snow-blow my driveway just to get my car out in the morning (in the last week, I have had to dig cars out twice!).  I look up at my gutters and see ten inches of ice and worry about them falling off.  I wonder when I will see the grass.  For the first time in my life, Florida is looking pretty appealing right now.

The Bible says that “for everything there is a season” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, ESV).  It means that life is filled with different times for different things.  As a result of all that God has done, man realizes that there has to be more to life than this.  The writer of Ecclesiastes goes on to say, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11, ESV).  God lets man know of His existence.  Life and all of the things in it point to eternity and the God who holds it in His hand.  Let God lift you focus up from the temporary things of this life.  Look beyond the times and seasons (and snow drifts!) of this life to the God who made you and loves you more than anything else.  Let Him give your life purpose and meaning.  Tap into Him and tap into the eternal tugging He placed in your heart.

Really Rich

Thousands of years ago, a person’s wealth was seen as a barometer of their spiritual life.  If they were wealthy, they were considered blessed by God (which they were) and righteousness (which they may or may not have been).  For instance, there was a man in the Bible named Job.  Job was a wealthy man who lost everything.  His friends suggested that he must have sinned and God was punishing him.  Nothing was farther from the truth.  Job’s suffered because of righteousness, not in spite of it.

In contemporary culture, we have embraced a similar misconception.  Many believe that God’s sole purpose in life is to bless us materially.  Unfortunately, this distortion is fed by much of the religious programming on television.  While every good and perfect gift is from above (James 1:17), God is much more than a cosmic ATM.  Those that embrace this “prosperity gospel” fail to point out that Jesus died with His Roman executioners gambling for the only thing he owned.  In addition, none of the apostles who were martyred died wealthy.  The were blessed in much deeper ways than in their wallets.

When Jesus offered comfort to the church in Smyrna, He took note of their poverty.  He immediately pointed out that their lack of means was in no way a measuring stick for the depth of their blessings.  He said, “I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich” (Revelation 2:9, NLT).  The fact that the church was without materially did not mean that they were without spiritually.

The point is not whether it is more noble to be rich or poor.  That has nothing to do with the conversation.  If you are wealthy, consider yourself blessed and use your resources to expand the Kingdom of God (1 Timothy 6:17-19).  If you struggle financially, realize that it doesn’t mean God is absent from your life.  One can be extremely blessed by God in ways that will never show up in a ledger sheet.

What we need to understand is that God blesses us even in the midst of difficulties, even if those difficulties impact your finances.  With all the talk of bailouts and stimulus packages, remember how God has touched your life.  Begin to look at all of the ways you are rich.  Your bank account probably has very little to do with it.