Hello and welcome to another podcast of It’s Not Your Money: Finding the Peace of Putting God First. The message of It’s Not Your Money is to help you connect your faith-life with your financial life. The first step in that journey is to trust God. You can trust God to provide.
On the last podcast I talked of how when I finally took that step of faith and trusted God enough to start giving courageously, that my life changed for the good. Stressing about money melted away.
That is absolutely true, but I have a confession to make: it didn’t all happen at once. It was more of a progression of steps over time. Let me share with you how that progression went.
The first steps happened when I was in my mid-thirties. Up to that point, I was all about building my career, my family, and my lifestyle. Sure, We went to Mass, I taught CCD, and when the collection basket came by I put some money in. I was doing all I was supposed to be doing – or so I thought.
Remember last cast I mentioned my friend’s testimony on a Stewardship Sunday that nudged me to be more intentional about my giving. I went from giving haphazardly whatever cash was in my pocket – and I never carried too much cash – to writing checks, most weeks, to giving online.
The biggest step came about 15 years ago. Father’s homily challenged us to think about what we are giving in return for all of God’s blessings. I felt a prompting by the Holy Spirit to increase giving by $15 per week. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but it was that nudge that gave me pause. I wasn’t sure I could afford that on top of everything else. You can read the details of that account in the book, but suffice it to say that it came down to trust. Did I trust God to provide, or not.
By the grace of God, I gathered my courage, stepped out in faith, and increased our giving. And what happened??? Nothing happened. We didn’t miss any meals. All the bills got paid. But what really happened was I gained a sense of peace I can not explain. That was the “a-ha” moment for me. That was when I learned that I truly can trust God to provide.
Trust God to provide in your life. Put Him first in every area of your life, including and especially with money. Take the step of faith like I did and see if you, too, don’t begin to realize the sense of peace and happiness you truly want.
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Thank you for listening. Till next time, Be Well.
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