Over the past few days, I have repeatedly heard something about planning ahead, worrying about the future, reacting to the present, and our overall responsibility to trust God. This has always been something of a sticky subject with me, especially when it comes to finances, but more to that in a minute.
We as humans, and especially Believers, have a delicate balance between anticipating the future, recognizing the present, and appreciating the past. At times, the Bible seems to send mixed signals about how to handle the future. In some places it talks about people perishing for lack of plans, and at others it tells us to only focus on today, since tomorrow has enough worries of its own. My tendency (thank you, Boy Scouts of America) is to 'plan for the worst, and hope for the best.'
I naturally and instinctively think through a lot of contingency plans when it comes to the future. Even if it is a highly unlikely event, I just want to be mentally prepared to handle the given situation. Sometimes I even come up with CRAZY situations, just to think about what I would have to do. (I mean come on, when is anyone going to be attacked by a dinosaur!?) I don't worry about those situations, I just try to figure out what would be the best course of action. (and in the case of the dino-attack, I think I'd just give up! lol)
So when I read verses about not focusing on tomorrow, I wonder, "am I doing wrong by planning ahead?" I haven't done a whole lot of Bible research on this, but it seems foolish not to think about the future. I also think there's a thin line between making a 5-year plan and worrying about what's going to happen in 5 years. When you worry about the future, that's where your focus is. I think God wants us to be focused on the here and now, remembering the past, and trusting Him for the future.
The obvious balance to 'worry' is 'trust,' and
that trust is built upon remembering how God has met your past needs.
Even looking in the Scriptures and seeing how God has met the needs of
those people.
Where this has often tripped my up in regards to finances is in the "Saving for Retirement" category. Is setting money aside for what may happen 50 years from now foolish? Would it be better to invest that money now into building God's kingdom? Should I try to deal with my bills-50-years-in-the-future right now or 50-years-in-the-future? I wonder if I would feel a lot of regret if I met Christ tomorrow and he asked about how I used his money, and I just said that I stashed it away (aka invested), just in case I didn't have a job in 50 years. Am I trusting in God for my future provision, or am I trusting in the American Economy?
I don't know what the answer is, and I am saving for retirement (and I'm not sure I even want to retire - but that's a different subject). If you have any thoughts on this or have figured out where that 'fine line' is, please drop a note into the comments below. Thanks!
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