It would be hard to find a crisis in this world that is more stressful than one involving money, or the lack of it. If you were to ask people what they worry about most, money would most likely be on their list regardless of their financial status.
Financial crisis on many occasions may seem to be beyond us to overcome. But the truth is that while the problem may sometimes look formidable, our crises are never above God. In the midst of financial difficulty God does promise peace.
Looking at the story of how Jesus fed 5,000 people, we can learn three things to do to find peace in the midst of a financial crisis.
1. Bring What You Have To Jesus
What do you have today? No matter how big or small, Jesus wants you to bring it to Him. In Matthew 14:18, Jesus asked His disciples to look for food to feed the multitude, but all they could find was a young boy with fish and bread, Jesus then said, "Bring them here to me."
To bring our finances to Christ means that we submit to His bidding, His will, and His lordship. Because our money comes simply because of the grace of God (Deuteronomy 8:18) what we have belongs to Him and we are simply stewards. But because Jesus loves us, He allows us to enjoy that wealth and also allows us to be used for His honour and glory.
2. Look To Heaven, Not Your Wallet
What lens do you view your circumstances? Many of us will view things the world would have us view them. But God calls us to look to Him and not to our capability.
Continuing the story of Jesus and the bread and fish, the Bible says, "Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing..." (Matthew 14:19)
Looking to heaven means looking to God's strength and power, not our own. God can and will do greater things with what little we have in hard times if we trust Him to.
3. Remain Generous
Continuing in verse 19, I noticed something I never noticed before: "...Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds."
If you only had five loaves of bread and two fish with 5,000 hungry people before you, who would you feed first? Yourself?
That's not what the disciples did. The Bible tells us they gave them to the crowds first. The most amazing thing is after all had been distributed, 12 baskets were still left.
I believe that God's excess follows if we are first excessively generous. When the world tells us to consume first because all goods are scarce, God calls us to act in obedient generosity even in the midst of crisis. When we do that, He rewards us with great abundance.
