Money....YUK!

I hate money!  I hate thinking about it.  I hate talking about it.  I hate spending it.  I hate saving it.  I hate counting it.  I hate needing it.  I hate having it.

Truly, I do.  I hate everything about money.

I guess I probably shouldn't.  I mean, a lot of good CAN be done with money.  God uses money to provide for the hungry, to care for the oppressed, even to aid in spreading His Gospel.  God uses it to teach us to give and to teach us to depend on Him.

It causes so many problems, though.  You know what I mean?....If you don't have enough, then you have to determine how to get enough.  If you have plenty, you think you need more. - It's almost always a stumbling block in our spiritual lives.  Biblically, it shouldn't be.  By God's grace, it doesn't have to be...and yet, it usually is, to one degree or another.

If my Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills and He promises to meet my needs and I know He's Sovereign and I believe He's good....then why does money trip me up?  Why does the need for it, the lack of it, the responsibility of it trip me up, stress me out, and tempt me to sin?

Some people have a real issue with trusting God.  They struggle to trust that He will provide for them and/or guide them in the use of their finances.  But I'm not usually like that.  It's not that I never doubt or worry, but for the most part that's not a struggle of mine.  I have seen God provide over and over and over again, and I trust Him to continue to do so. 

My struggle has more to do with focus.  I think about money too often.  I know God will provide and I think about that provision a little too much.  I spend too much time watching for how He will provide financially and not enough time watching for how He will work spiritually.

As I consider this problem...and I wonder how to fix it...I find myself thinking about a song we often do when leading worship.  Maybe it's going through my head because the Holy Spirit is trying to tell me something?....maybe it's just going through my head because I sing it often?  Either way, the words are worth singing/typing/reading....

All to Jesus, I surrender.  All to Him I freely give.
I will ever love and trust Him.  In His presence daily live.
I surrender all.  I surrender all.  All to thee my blessed savior.
I surrender all.

I suppose that the more Jesus there is in me, the less room there is for me in me.  The more time I spend in His presence the more I'll become like Him.
I expect Jesus doesn't think too much about money.