Devotional: The Almighty Dollar -Trusting God With What Comes Next
“The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.”
Proverbs 22:7 (NIV)
Most of our financial decisions are not made in moments of confidence. They are made in moments of tension.
We feel the pressure.
We see the gap between what we have and what we need.
We sense the weight of responsibility—for ourselves, for our families, for the future.
And so we make choices that feel necessary. Reasonable. Even wise in the moment.
Debt often enters quietly. Not as rebellion, but as relief. It promises help now. Breathing room. Stability. A sense that we are moving forward instead of falling behind.
Scripture does not shame us for this. Proverbs simply names what is true. When we borrow, the future begins to speak into the present. Pressure increases. Freedom narrows. Not because God is angry, but because obligation has consequences.
Over time, debt does more than affect our finances. It shapes our attention. It shapes our margins. And sometimes, without us noticing, it begins to shape our loyalties.
Jesus tells us that we cannot serve two masters. Yet debt has a way of dividing our hearts without ever announcing itself. We find ourselves more attentive to income than to rest. More concerned with security than generosity. More reactive than prayerful.
This does not make us unfaithful. It makes us human.
Which is why the deeper question beneath debt is not about discipline. It is about trust.
At some point, many of us begin to believe—quietly, subtly—that if we do not secure our future ourselves, no one else will. That God may care, but perhaps not enough to be trusted with the details.
The gospel gently challenges that fear.
God has never asked us to trust Him without evidence. He invites us to look at Jesus. To look at the cross. To remember that God did not protect Himself at our expense. He gave Himself for us.
Jesus surrendered control, security, and certainty so that we would never have to wonder whether God is committed to us. That truth does not remove financial pressure, but it does change how we carry it.
Contentment grows here. Not as denial, but as resistance. Resistance against fear’s urgency. Resistance against the lie that everything depends on us.
When we slow down long enough to invite God into our decisions, we begin to ask different questions. What is driving this choice? What might this cost later? And where is God inviting us to trust Him more deeply?
Trusting God with the future does not mean we stop planning. It means we stop asking tomorrow to pay for today. And in that space, we discover a freedom that money was never meant to give.
Prayer
God of provision,
You know the pressures we carry and the fears we often hide. Help us name what drives our decisions. Teach us to slow down and listen. Grow in us a trust that is rooted not in optimism, but in the cross of Christ. As we place our future in Your hands, form in us hearts of contentment, wisdom, and freedom.
Amen.
Discussion Questions
When you feel financial pressure, how do you usually respond?
What fears most often shape your financial decisions?
In what ways has debt influenced your freedom, margin, or attention?
How does the cross speak into your concerns about provision and security?
Where might God be inviting you to trust Him more deeply right now?
This Week’s Practice
1. Pause before you decide.
Before making a financial decision—especially one driven by urgency—slow down. Take a moment to name what is shaping the choice beneath the surface. Not every problem requires an immediate solution, and creating space can open the door to wisdom and clarity.
What emotion or pressure is driving this decision right now?
2. Ask what this costs your future freedom.
Debt often feels helpful in the moment, but it always speaks into the future. Before borrowing or extending yourself financially, consider how this decision might shape your margin later—your generosity, rest, and ability to respond when God invites you into something new.
How might this choice shape my freedom, margin, or faithfulness later?
3. Invite God into the conversation early.
Instead of asking God to bless a decision after it is made, practice inviting Him into the process beforehand. Stewardship begins with prayer, discernment, and trust, remembering that what we hold has first been entrusted to us by God.
Have I truly sought God’s wisdom before moving forward—or only asked Him to bless my plans?
Faith does not eliminate pressure, but it does reframe it. When we trust God with what comes next, we are freed to live faithfully in the present.
