Is This Economy Hurting You?

Fresh Manna 2009© by Pastor Tim Burt

Have you ever heard the phrase, if you want something done, do it yourself? Many people live that way. They want things done precisely their way and in their timeframe. I understand that feeling. I am a manager of many people. I create, manage, and oversee many projects and people groups. When you are delegating and having people help you, they aren’t always going to perfectly get what you want, just the way you want it. Some leaders are patient in working with those they mentor and delegate to helping them to get things right. Others are less patient and throw up their hands saying “Forget it, if I want it done right, I have to do it myself.” That attitude leads to flawed character development spiritually and in how we live life. Let me explain.

If you study the history of Israel, it would be so easy to look at God’s people and say, “Man, they were as up and down in their relationship with God as a rollercoaster.” You would view that for a while they are obeying and serving God and because of it they are conquering their enemies and being blessed at all they put their hand to. But before long they get self-reliant, increasingly disobedient, creeping toward ignoring God, and eventually backslidden – living without needing Him. If they did not repent, it always led to God taking His hand of blessing and protection off of them. They created their own mess and got buried in it until they woke up years and year later and cried out to Him for His help once again. As you spend time reading about them in the Bible, it’s so easy to become critical and think, “How could they have been so blind?”

If you are a Christian today, let me say that we are no different from them. Christians do the same thing today. Why do people backslide from God? Part of that attitude is born from what I mentioned in the beginning – the “do it myself attitude!”

The sincere Christian life is a life dependent upon God and His grace to live life right – grace being the mercy and supernatural help from God through Jesus Christ that is needed to walk out your life in Him. Only an honest and humble heart will fully grasp that.

There could be something that people dislike about this dependence upon God. People want to become independent. People don’t love interdependence. It slows them down. But as a Christian, that isn’t possible. You are dependent upon God. Jesus said, “Without me you can do nothing.” That means you have to patiently live your life seeking His direction and help. You will find that God doesn’t always do things the way you like or want or in your desired timeframe. So, you could become like the person that throws up his hands and says, “Forget it, if I want it done right, I’ll do it myself.” This is one big reason people pull back from God. Few would acknowledge it but if their life was examined closely, evidence would indicate they don’t’ need God. They don’t’ read His Word. They don’t pray. They don’t seek Him except when they want something or when they are in trouble. They aren’t going to church or helping build His church – something as precious to Him as a wife. And why? Because they’ve fallen into the pattern of doing life themselves – their way!

Even when people get like this God loves them. But He won’t usurp their free choice to live life without His help.

We are in a difficult economy. Unemployment is at crisis. People are hurting. This will cause some to curse God and pull away into total despair. This will awaken others to their dependence upon God and draw them back to Him.

Jeremiah 17:5-8 (NLT) This is what the Lord says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans and turn their hearts away from the Lord. They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, on the salty flats where no one lives. “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they go right on producing delicious fruit.

In His love,
Pastor Tim