Five Verses to Battle Financial Anxiety
In letting financial anxiety to rule in our minds and hearts we end up believing one or both of two lies: first, that God is ultimately not good and will not provide, and secondly, that I can take care of myself without God.
Once we understand that we are stewards of every dollar that enters our pockets, we will be more willing to let God spend our lives and follow His leading in where to invest it (our life and money). We will also learn that worry is not for us who believe, but He is the One who has taken our burdens upon Himself.
Alright, I am not saying not to work. Rather I am saying that in all things, we must understand that as believers we need to be attuned to the Father’s business and enter into it. “Not worrying,” about money doesn’t mean not budgeting and use our bank accounts like gift cards with the mentality of, “I don’t know how much is in here, but ill use my debit card anyways,” and hoping it works.
On Facebook, I am in a thread conversation with 20+ of my teammates for the World Race, and in April a few of my teammates were expressing how anxious they were over raising 16 grand for their missions trip. I shared the following verses with them. These come from times in my life with circumstances where I had to lean into the leadership of God, and in result, they have become promise columns in my heart. Here they are for you to chew over and to wield in the furnace of intimacy with Holy Spirit.
The verses that really help me with not agreeing with anxiety over the funds for my missions trip are:
- “When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.” Psalm 94:19. When I was in my first year of music school I was so afraid to sing in front of others in my vocal class. This verse helped me to overcome FEAR. “Consolation,” in sports refers to a round where people are eliminated before the finals. I felt so inadequate, and compared myself to all the awesome musicians in my school. But Holy Spirit brought freedom to my heart, and confidence to sing in front of others. Now I have no fear.
- “Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted in the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10. This verse reminds me that even if I don’t go to the nations, the Lord will. He will have a people who love Him. So my thoughts still, and I war from a place of rest in knowing that Jesus will have a people who love Him.
- In Isaiah 26 it talks about the desire of our soul is for his name. So it realigns my heart in that I am not doing the race for myself, but for the fame of Jesus. #untilthefameofjesusfillstheearth
- & Isaiah 42. Not only does Isaiah 26 realign my gaze on Jesus, but Isaiah 42 puts my gaze back on the global scale, that there will be a company of people from the islands to the coastlands and even to the mountains who give God His rightful rule in their hearts. “Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits; let the habitants of Sela sing for joy, let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory to the Lord, and declare his praise in the coastlands.”
- AND FINALLY: Habakkuk 1:5, “Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing work in your days that you would not believe if told,” where it talks about seeing what the Lord is doing in the nations. He tells us that we should be in wonder and amazed by HIS works. SO, it’s HIM that is doing the work and it’s HIM who receives the glory! We just get to be vessels and partners with Him in it!
