The Savings Account

Since our income will take a huge plunge in a little over two months with my retirement, my husband and I spent hours going over our budget.  We felt we’d be okay, financially, as we will have all our debts paid off, except the mortgage, but it is always better to sit down and look at actual figures, particularly our tax withholding. We sure don’t want a nasty surprise at the end of the year.

And so, we fiddled, plotted, and planned for hours, crunching numbers around every possible scenario we could envision. With the debts paid off, and no work expenses, we’ll actually have more money left after bills than we do now (no surprise there, but good to see the actual numbers verify that).

Next, we looked at budgeting for a savings account, something we had not managed since my husband’s retirement seven years ago. Life would be lot less stressful knowing we had something set aside for those unplanned expenses and emergencies.

The next morning, my devotions included Mark 10: 24: “How hard is it for them that trust riches to enter into the Kingdom of God?”

Ouch.

Now, I don’t believe God was telling me not to save money. I believe He was reminding me that just because we had a little extra money for the first time in our married life, trusting that bank account rather than Him was misplaced trust. It wasn’t going to solve all my problems or prevent any disasters.

Going a bit further, God doesn’t just supply our physical needs. He also cares for our emotional and spiritual needs as well. God will provide everything we need, even the things we don’t know we need.

Although I had stopped dreaming about winning the lottery, becoming a rich author, or inheriting enough money to set up a worry-free savings account, I still like the idea of that cushion. And, that's fine, as long as I don't trust it more than I do God. It will fail me while God will not.