I remember years ago when I did the finances for our home.  I was self-employed.  Some jobs would be three or four days, and some two to three weeks.

The short jobs were nice.  I could get paid once or twice a week and had the money then to pay off my bills, buy food, gas, etc.  But the longer-term jobs presented a problem. By the time the job was finished, I had quite a stack of bills and needed to go shopping for food, so I really looked forward to getting paid.  So much so that I pinned a lot of hope on getting that check to solve my problems without much thought about God.

When I would finally get paid, I was elated.  I felt that now everything would be set right, and life would be lovely.  But as always happened as I set down to pay the bills and by the time I was done, all the money was gone.  This was very disheartening. It took all the wind out of me.  The feeling of elation was gone.  This feeling of hope was just a feeling and not a logical thought.

I did not like the disappointment, the letdown. It took that happening repeatedly over several years for me to understand that this way of seeing things was wrong.

As I thought on this, finally, I realized my thinking/feelings were all wrong.  I was putting my hope for paying my bills in my job and getting paid. As I pondered this dilemma, I realized our trust for our sufficiency should rest on God not on getting paid.  I finally thought to myself, “What happens if after the three weeks you don’t get paid for whatever reason?”  Do you starve? Lose your home?  Is God out of business?

I finally understood that as we work, we look to God to provide.  It is like the verse that says:

Proverbs 21:31 The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD.

In this verse, the man prepared the horse and perhaps himself by great training, but at the end of the battle, he knew that the reason he was safe was because God had provided for his safety.

We likewise do our diligence to work and run our businesses, but at the end of the day, it is God that provides.

We pray and God will help. This is part of learning the process of applying God’s word to everyday life.

Think about this: we let our requests and prayers be known to God, and at times he supplies those requests through people.

Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

Exodus 3:21-22 And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty: But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians

Job 42:11 Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold.

In these verses, we see God supplying through people.

Many times, He may provide by you getting paid for your work.  But He also provides in many different ways. God provided Abraham a ram in a thicket, so Abraham named that place, and it became one of the names of God. “The Lord will provide.”

Genesis 22:14 – Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh, the LORD is my provider. As it is said to this day, “In the LORD’s mountain it will be provided.”

He provided Israel with manna in the wilderness.

Psalms 23:1 – The Lord is my shepherd: I shall lack nothing.  (We look to God)
Psalms 34:9, 10 – Oh fear the LORD, you his saints, For there is no lack with those who fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.

Here is another great example of God’s supply in the Old Testament.

Leviticus 25:20-22 And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store.

How do you explain how the land brought forth so much that year?  If you have a really great year money-wise, it might be wise to put a lot in the bank.  You can not see what is coming tomorrow, but He can.

Jeremiah 17:5-8 Thus says the LORD: Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the LORD. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose trust the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, who spreads out its roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat comes, but its leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

Our trust is in God to supply.  We work our butts off, but at the end of the day, we realize that He is the one that provides.

As it says in the 121st Psalm:

…From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.

We do our due diligence to work heartily, but we keep our eyes upon God and put our trust in our Father.  Even if we did not get paid, He is still the Lord that provides.  Learning some of these things and setting our minds on the right paths are all part of learning to live The Prosperous Life.