Fear of Financial Struggle

"Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.” Ephesians 5:2(NLT)

by Alexandra Copeland

As a child, I had been a member of a local Baptist church for many years. I lived in a small town with some of the most generous and wonderful people that you’d ever want to meet. They invested in the young people of my church like nobody’s business; loving and nurturing us to pieces. They wanted the best for us and I speak of these important individuals often because they were so incredibly influential in my life, teaching me the Word to the best of their ability. But even with their investment, I faced what seemed at the time to be insurmountable hurdles. My parents had many financial struggles. So much so that my siblings and I looked upon even the smallest things that many people take for granted as though they were luxuries; we simply couldn’t afford them. I grew up thinking that I would never be financially secure, and that my family and I would always struggle to make ends meet.

My spiritual teachers and mentors gave us the very best they could offer, but they had been taught and believed that our Heavenly Father punishes His children. They believed His Will to be such that only a chosen few would have their needs met, and that the rest of us suffered and struggled because this was God’s Will. According to their beliefs, we were not meant to live long lives and operate out of the overflow. They believed that struggling and suffering cultivated the humility and strength that we would need to make it through life.

For a while, I bought into it hook, line, and sinker, but as I continued to grow and mature, this line of thinking left me thoroughly confused and filled with fear. I walked around waiting for the next disappointment or punishment to ensnare my life. I approached every endeavor with the possibility that it could potentially turn into disaster, never knowing whether God wanted me to succeed or fail. I didn’t believe that a person could ever really know His Will and that life was an accident waiting to happen. It sounds horrible I know, but this is actually what I believed as a young person, and there are countless others who believe this way today; and some of them are seniors who will take these incorrect beliefs to their graves.

Can you imagine how defeated I felt? Talk about low self-esteem, mine was at the bottom of the barrel. God’s mercy on me is one of my greatest testimonies. Little by little, as I inched out on faith, I received results that affirmed His overwhelming love for me. Then, when some wonderful Christian teachers opened my eyes to John 10:10, it was the turning point in my life.

Jesus Christ said in John 10:10 (NKJV), “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” I’m sure I had heard this verse in all my years of going to Sunday school and church, but when I heard it for the first time in my early twenties, it was as if a trumpet went off in my head. These were words from the lips of our blessed Lord, and it felt as though I had waited all my life to comprehend them. My ears perked up and the Holy Spirit turned on a light switch in my heart. The extraordinary existence that God desires for each of us became alive for me, and I was transformed. I didn’t skip around like a child on a playground, oblivious to the complexities of life, but I was introduced to faith in a way that revealed the Father’s heart to me. I wasn’t a victim any longer, but a victor through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Can you imagine the leap—going from experiencing disappointment after disappointment to accepting the reality that life doesn’t have to be that way? Just recently I heard about a young woman who struggles with suicidal thoughts and has for most of her life. She’s suffering from severe depression and says she very much wants to leave this world. “Nothing has worked for me, and I’ve tried it all.” I thought to myself, “but you haven’t tried Jesus!”

This is what you and I have. We have power to live victoriously! And the extraordinary thing about it is that we have the awesome privilege to share with others how to live a life of love as well, all through our blessed Lord and Savior. Ephesians 5:2(NLT) admonishes us, “Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.” This life that is filled with love isn’t one that is based on physical strength or ability. You can’t earn it, and you can’t manipulate it. The power of love that comes from God isn’t subject to our whims. It’s God’s power, and it will work through us if we will trust Him.

Peace of mind and joy became a reality for me when I finally realized that God was truly on my side, rooting for me to be the best that I could be in every aspect of my life. It wasn’t so much about financial independence as it was about knowing that I had been equipped through the love of Christ to be more than a conqueror in life!

Financial struggle was my fear. It was the thing that caused me to see myself as powerless, but there are many different kinds of fears that others are struggling to overcome. The thing is—our faith in God must be greater than our fears. God wants you to grasp in your daily relationship with Him, just what Jesus Christ has done for you, and any fear that we have will get in the way of this. People today are causing great harm to themselves and to others, all because they do not believe they have any hope, and they think that fear is the answer. If I had sunk any lower, that might have been my fate as well, but the grace of God delivered me into the glorious light of Christ; and it will do the same for you!

Jesus is the answer for the world today, tomorrow, and forever! Contrary to what others would have us to believe, all roads do not lead to heaven. Christ, our Redeemer and Creator of the Universe, is the way, John 14:6 tells us, and the demands of a saved and holy life are not a burden. There is liberty in Christ. True freedom! God commands us through the Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:1(NKJV), “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” Any type of fear is bondage, and as God’s elect we can make a better choice and choose to walk in His love every moment of each day. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright ©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Written by Alexandra Copeland. Renegades4CHRIST © 2015. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.