PRIORITIES

God's Economy One person may possess too much money and have it inactive. On the other hand, he or she may have millions or billions of dollars in the bank. The money is just sitting there and isn’t working to boost the economy. So, who gets benefit from those millions? Only two people: the bank owners and the investors. You may even find that the employees don’t get raises or the bank owners don’t hire more employees because those millions of dollars are invested for their purpose. And who suffers? Poor people who have little. The money should be used for creating more activities to benefit everyone.” Thomas continued. “There is so much money that isn’t being circulated throughout the country. People are not able to benefit from it and the economy slows because there is fear in people’s hearts. The question is ─ who is happy? Obviously, only a few people can have everything. This creates fear. And when this kind of fear enters people’s lives, it creates dependency on something else other than the truth.” “What kind of dependency does it create?” Valerie asked. “I’ll tell you. People who possess a lot of money start to depend on it too much. Their money comes first in their lives and they don’t think about God unless they are believers. So they start to protect it more than they protect the world. They are even afraid to use their wealth to create more business because Satan has put fear in their hearts that they may lose their money if they do so. This kind of fear is from the devil. It creates a dependency and takes away the truth of knowing God and trusting in Him alone. Fear of losing wealth creates the love of it and it blinds people to the fact that money is meant to be used, to get things done on earth, and to bring glory to God by using it in the right way.” “I get it,” Janette said. “The Bible refers to money as an opportunity that God gives us to get his missions work done on earth. So I believe that ─ if we can think about why some of us have a lot more money than others and why some of us are way more blessed than others ─ we will find that it isn’t because we worked so hard but because God has trusted in us, as good stewards, to use His resources to keep His economy moving. God created this earth, so He loves it; and...He gave us all the tools we need to do well and keep His economy balanced. But how do we do it? It depends on the plans we make.” “That’s true” Mark agreed. “I would recommend that we start to make realistic plans. They should be in line with God’s plans. If they seem not to be materializing, then maybe they aren’t realistic. Who holds the future? Only God holds the future; so, we should make plans according to God’s direction. We should know that God is the master of our economy; we need to make our plans serve us to achieve His mission.” “I am convinced! What else?” Frank requested. “We should not rely too much on our own abilities; rather, we should expect God to work when we set financial goals. This kind of expectation increases our faith and dependency on God. And it also creates a good stewardship for how we spend God’s resources. Once we make plans that result in more opportunities for everyone, I believe we will no longer be in this economic crisis.” Thomas paused to take a drink of water before moving forward. “So we should now evaluate our plans and language, then compare them with what is actually happening today. Are our goals being met? Why or why not? Another question is whether the plan is realistic or unrealistic. Was God’s original plan included in our actual plans? What about talking the same language; do we still understand each other? Or has our language become confusing due to the fact that we try to do everything under our own power? Those are the questions we should ask ourselves, either as believers or non−believers. If we create a plan based on wrong assumptions, the result will be different from our expectations.” “So what do you suggest we do in our evaluation?” Frank asked. “Good question Frank. We should: (a) Pray for our financial plans and allow God to control them, (b) learn how to split His resources among us and support those creative−minded individuals, (c) Proportionally contribute to God’s plans to boost this economy, (d) learn how to share God’s tasks on earth, create and increase more opportunities so everyone with different talents can benefit, (e) Lastly...learn how to take the importance of opportunity cost.