God’s Mercy in Withholding Wealth
Learning to thank God for a circumstance we often despise
One time early in our marriage, I, exasperated by yet another unexpected bill, voiced the following sentiment to my wife: “Wouldn’t it be nice to reach a point financially where we can handle unplanned expenses without stress?” She replied with two simple words of immeasurable wisdom, “Maybe not.”
It took me awhile to grasp the profundity of her point. In fact, it’s taken my whole life so far, and I’m still not sure I fully get it.
The Bible is full of instruction about money. Randy Alcorn often points out that Jesus taught on the topic more than he did on heaven and hell combined. The human relationship to wealth is important to God because God wants the full devotion of our hearts and money is one of his primary competitors.
To better grasp my wife’s point, consider Paul’s warning to Timothy: “But those who desire to be rich fall into a temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (1 Tim 6:9-10).
Paul uses a variety of terms to describe a harmful disposition toward wealth—desire, love, craving. Money itself is a neutral tool that can be used for many good purposes, including but not limited to procuring the necessities of life. The danger lies in our sinful hearts. We see money as power in tangible form. It becomes a means for us to rise above our creaturely limitations, to live life without friction. In our sin, we are susceptible to these false promises of salvation. When we fall for them, our harmless desire for enough morphs into an insatiable craving for more. That’s when our souls enter the danger zone. That’s when money replaces Christ in the order of our loves.
Knowing the danger, it’s interesting that the Bible never steers us away from wealth altogether. Scripture does not construct an electric fence around money with a “Do not touch” sign. As in other areas of temptation, the problem is not in the object but in the relationship of our hearts to the object. We are tempted to lust but never instructed to avoid marital sex. We are tempted to overindulge but must not avoid food. In fact, the Bible encourages us to enjoy both sex and food. Similarly, the propensity to love money should not lead us to shun it. Before the fall, God declared creation good. Through Christ, we can live according to God’s good design again. We can steward the earth’s resources toward the aim of God’s glory.
God promises us wealth. Consider Proverbs 3:9-10: “Honor the LORD with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.” Dangerous and exploitative in the hands of prosperity preachers, this verse often embarrasses the rest of us. We don’t know what to do with it. For the longest time, I got around its absoluteness by classifying it as wisdom literature. It’s generally true, I argued, but not universal. In this fallen world, some people will honor the LORD with all their produce and not see the overstocked barns and bursting wine vats.
I’ve changed my mind about the absoluteness of such promises. God will fulfill it universally for his people. The interpretive puzzle, however, is not solved by the rules of wisdom literature; it’s answered in Christ: “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt 6:20-21). God’s people—those who treasure Christ above all—will inherit great wealth even if we never see it in this life.
In eternal perspective, the Christian relationship to wealth is paradoxical. If you pursue it as your ultimate aim in life, you end up eternally poor. However, if you pursue Christ as your greatest treasure in life, you end up eternally wealthy. Pursue wealth, get poverty. Pursue Christ, get more wealth than you could ever imagine—eventually.
When Christ is our greatest treasure, our hearts rest content in him. Satisfied in him, the allure of wealth does not appeal to us as something to crave. By loving Christ above all, our other loves become appropriately ordered. Wealth becomes a mere tool in service to his will.
God may choose to make you wealthy in this life, or he may not. If he doesn’t, thank him for protecting and preserving your heart and look forward to an eternal state of wealth enjoyed in the full light of his glorious presence.