When You Can’t Stop Worrying About Money

Most of us assume if you just had enough money, the

worrying would stop. Hit a certain number in the bank and

you'd finally relax. Some researchers decided to test that.

They surveyed millionaires, people who were by any normal

standard, had already won the money game. If a big pile of

money buys peace, these were the guys who should have felt it.

The truth was, the number on the account had almost nothing to do

with the worry. And what the millionaires admitted points to

something most of us get wrong about money. We'll come back to

what they said, but

first, welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm

Bart Leger. I've worried about money at both ends of the

spectrum. In college and grad school, Catherine and I had

little to nothing extra. And I worried about the money. Years

later, we had more than enough and I still caught myself

worrying. The amount in the account changed, but the

worrying didn't. Some people have money anxiety that keeps

running even when their situation's stable. Calculation

never shuts off. Enough for retirement. Enough if the car

breaks down. But, what makes it confusing is that nothing's

wrong. The bills got paid this month and they'll get paid next

month. You've got a little put back and you're still worried

you won't have enough. This kind of worry often dresses up as

good stewardship. Oh, come on. Admit it. Responsible people

plan ahead. And the Bible says plenty about a man who provides

for his household. So, we often spiritualize, so we often

spiritualize our worry by borrowing that language from the

Bible. And it goes unchallenged for years. A prayer in Proverbs

goes at money from a different direction most of us never

consider. Proverbs 30: 8 and 9. These are the words of Edgar.

First, help me never to tell a lie. Oh, that's a pretty good

one. And then he goes on to say: Second, give me neither poverty

nor riches. Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I

grow rich, I may deny you and say, "Who is the Lord?" "And if

I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God's holy name."

Look at how unusual this is. Proverbs is mostly observation

and instruction. A wise man telling you how things work.

Here, he stops and asks God for something. And what he asks for

is the middle. I mean, come on. Nobody prays for the middle. We

always pray for more. And then look at his reasons. Because

this is where he turns the whole subject around. He gives a

spiritual danger for each end. If he gets rich, he's afraid

he'll deny God and ask who the Lord even is. If he gets too

poor, he's afraid he'll steal. And by doing so, drag God's name

through the mud doing it. So, Edgar is treating an amount of

money as a spiritual risk. Most of us treat it as a security

target. Those are two different questions. And only one of them

has an answer. A target can be hit. A risk has to be handed to

somebody who can manage it. Look at the request itself. Give me

just enough to satisfy my needs. The Hebrew behind that means the

bread of my portion or a ration. The amount set aside for a man

for one day. Jesus put the same idea in the prayer he taught us.

Give us this day our daily bread. Notice who sets the figure in

the request. Edgar never states one. He asks God to decide what

enough is. Which takes a calculation out of his hands and

puts it into God's. That's the move for anybody who's been

running this math for years. You've been looking for the

number that finally is going to end the worry. "Ager quit

looking and he asked God to pick it." Most of the millionaires

said they still didn't have enough to feel secure. I mean,

really? Nearly two-thirds of them admitted that one bad break

– a job loss or a market dip – could wreck the life they'd

built. People with more money than they'd ever spend were

lying awake doing the same math as everybody else. It turns out

money worry doesn't shrink as the bank account grows. It has a

life of its own. That's why Ager in Proverbs didn't pray for a

bigger pile. He prayed for enough. He prayed for the middle

and for a heart that wouldn't be ruled by either having too

little or too much. One more detail from that study stands

out. When they asked people what it would take to feel secure,

the answer kept moving. The ones worth a million to five million

said five to ten would do it. And the ones already past ten

million said twenty-five. What they found was the target moves

with you. That's why a certain number of the bank can't end

this. And it's why Ager prayed instead of calculating. Here's

today's challenge. Tonight, tell God about your worry. Something

like, "Lord, my worry about money is bigger than my

situation calls for." And you know it. Then pray Ager's prayer

in your own words. Ask God for enough and leave the amount to

Him. Then ask Him for something you may never have asked for,

and that is peace about the enough He's already given you.

And write down the number this week. What you've got and what

you owe. Because worry feeds on fog. Most people's fear of the

number is worse than the actual number itself. Father, Ager

asked for neither poverty nor riches. And he had good reason

for this. Thank you that you know what we need before we ask.

For everybody listening whose worry about money runs far past

their circumstances, please settle them, give them the bread

of their portion, and give them rest about it. In Jesus' name,

amen. If this episode encouraged you today, would you share it

with someone who might need to hear it? Just go to

dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/347 and copy the link. It only

takes a second, and it might make a difference in someone's

day. Thanks for joining me on Daily Devotions for Busy Lives.

Remember, Ager asked God to decide what enough was. You can

hand him that calculation tonight. Come back next time for

more encouragement to help you live grounded in God's truth.

Until then, God bless and have a great day.