"But those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not be faint." Isaiah 41:31 (NKJV)
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This has always been my favorite scripture. I try to live my life by it but sometimes I fail. I'm impulsive by nature and it's very hard for me to wait for anything I want. I've caused a lot of mayhem to my life by jumping ahead of God and scheming to find a way to have it. My credit has been damaged more than once by credit cards, finance companies and the IRS! I'm obviously not a person who handles money well.
There are many consequences for those of us who find a way to purchase something we can't afford. As an example, having a low credit score and applying for a high interest credit card with insane yearly fees. Many times we end up defaulting on the payments and get another ding on our credit report. And so it goes, over and over until our credit is completely ruined. God doesn't want us to live like this.
I love the way Ron Hutchraft puts it:
"Jesus addresses this issue of accumulation, and He says in Luke 12:22, "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear." Then He says some radical stuff in Luke 12: 24, "Consider the ravens. They do not sow or reap. They have no storeroom or barn, yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than the birds?" He's saying that for your security, you don't need a big stored-up reserve somewhere.
That's the opposite of everything we have been taught about security. Here is Biblical security. He says, "Your Father knows you have need of these things. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourself that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." There's no storeroom, no pile of earth stuff. Send it ahead to the place where you're going to live forever. Don't accumulate it in the place that you are just visiting.
We are all guilty of the sin of accumulating. We build that earth kingdom, earth reserves, earth security; get as much earth stuff as we can. One day, Jesus may come back and say, "What are you doing with all of that tied up? I had a world to reach." He calls us to live simply on this immigrant island and to pour everything else into eternal causes. Give to that for which He gave everything He had.
If you want a bank full of heaven, then be content with a basketful of earth". Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.
So next time we find ourselves wanting things we don't need, let us "wait on the Lord".
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