Faith Filled Family Magazine September 2016 | Page 66

the process of looking for one.
So, with the help of our family
and realtor, we ended up finding a small, modest house not
far from our apartment. Then
came the hard part. We had
to get approved for a loan. We
were first time homebuyers, we
had almost no credit, and I was
worried.
One day, while we were waiting to hear about the loan, I
had worked myself into a fullblown anxiety attack about this
house. All of the pressure and
responsibility got to me, and I
was terrified that after all of this,
we wouldn’t get approved, and
our hopes for this house would
be shattered. I went to read
my Bible, and when I opened it,
the page immediately fell to this
scripture, Philippians 4:19 (NIV):
“And my God will meet all your
needs according to the riches of
His glory in Christ Jesus.”
I was filled with peace. I knew
God spoke that verse directly
to me that day, and I knew He
would take care of our need for
the loan. And He did. We got
the loan and the house, and we
still live there today.
I share that story to make this
point. Sometimes, it can be
God’s will for us to live in lack
because it increases our faith in
Him. We knew we needed that
loan, and we knew we couldn’t
get it on our own. We had to trust
in Him to handle it for us. After
reading that verse that day, I did
begin to trust Him about the situation, and He kept His promise.
In that circumstance, because I
had to trust God with a situation
that was completely out of my
control, my faith grew. Living in
lack can be God’s desire for us

if it causes us to fully depend on
Him.
Now, I do want to clear one thing
up. Sometimes, when you find
yourself in a hard situation financially, it can be tempting to think
that God is punishing you for
your mistakes by causing you
to suffer and live without your
basic needs met. This is not the
case. The answer to the question, “Does God desire for me
to live this way because He is
angry or disappointed with me?”
is a resounding no.
It is not God’s will for you to live
in lack as a means to punish
you. In 1 John 4:8 (NIV), it says,
“...God is love.” A few verses
later, in 1 John 4:18 (NIV), the
passage continues, “There is
no fear in love. But perfect love
drives out fear because fear has
to do with punishment…” God
is love, and perfect love has no
association with punishment.
It’s not God’s desire to punish
you by making you live in lack.
In fact, he doesn’t want to
punish you at all. Though we
all deserve punishment for our
sins, Jesus took that punishment
upon Himself when He died for
our sins on the cross. The Bible
says in Isaiah 53:5 (NIV), “But
He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for
our iniquities; the punishment
that brought us peace was on
Him, and by His wounds we are
healed.” When Jesus died on
the cross, He cancelled our sin
debt and eliminated any punishment we deserved.
God doesn’t want us to live in
lack as a way to punish us for
our mistakes. The only reason
He may want us to live in lack is

to grow our faith by bringing us
a greater awareness of Him and
our need for Him.
Sometimes, if we find ourselves
in a situation or season where
we don’t have everything we
need, it can affect the way we
view ourselves. If you don’t have
money, you can begin to think,
“How could God use me? I’m
too poor to do anything to help
His kin gdom.” If you don’t have
an education, you may begin to
think, “How could God use me?
I’m too uneducated to do anything for His kingdom.”
The truth is, God uses people all
the time who are seemingly the
lowest of the low to do incredible
things for His kingdom. In fact,
He loves doing that. He loves
using people who are living in
lack to accomplish amazing
works for Him because their
situations are further proof that
He did the work, not them. By
using them, He can showcase
His power more visibly and fully.
The Bible is filled with stories of
people who experienced lack in
some way but were still used by
God. Two of the biggest figures
of the Old Testament, Moses
and David, are some of the best
examples of this.
Moses, the man God chose to
lead His people out of slavery in
Egypt, lacked confidence in himself and his leadership abilities.
The Bible says in Exodus 4:10
(NIV), “Moses said to the Lord,
‘Pardon your servant, Lord. I
have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you
have spoken to your servant. I
am slow of speech and tongue.’”
Yet, God used this insecure man
to lead the children of Israel out
of slavery and to the Promised