You will hear a lot about how to get rich - most of which is bogus - but you will rarely hear how to be rich. Whether you feel rich or not, you are probably quite rich by comparison to the rest of the world. Remember, a yearly income of $45 K puts you in the top 1% of the world’s wage earners. However, even if you are really struggling in today’s economy, we are still a very blessed people.

To tell the truth, it is going to be pretty difficult to convince the average wage earner even in our very blessed nation that he or she is rich. With the prices at the gas pump skyrocketing, home heating costs hitting all time highs, food prices soaring, and wages not increasing anywhere near the extra costs, everybody is feeling the financial pressure. The exciting thing in all of this is that God’s people are going to have the opportunity to see the hand of God upon their lives in a way they probably never have experienced before. We will also have the added privilege of being a blessing to others as we share the blessings of God. But if there ever was a time God’s people needed to understand biblical stewardship, it is today.

Remember the Scripture has a great deal to say about money. While our blessings include far more than just money or even other material things, money still occupies a big part of our lives. The Scripture warns us about the misuse of money and the danger of the love of money, but it does not teach that we are necessarily more spiritual if we live in poverty. It is important to understand the attitude and relationship we should have towards money and other material things.

We often fret about what we own or do not own, but the truth is, we don’t own anything. It all belongs to God. One of the first things we need to understand in order to have the right attitude towards things is everything belongs to God. According to the psalmist, even those who live on the earth belong to God. We are His creation, but if we are followers of Jesus Christ, we are twice His.

We were created to glorify God. When we live lives out of His will, we will never experience the joy and fulfillment God has intended for us. For example, one who does not follow Christ may experience temporary happiness, but will never have a true lasting joy. True Christian joy is a lasting, deep seated peace that goes beyond our understanding.

Since everything in this universe belongs to God, everything we have is His also. These things are on loan from God. We are managers, not owners. God blesses us with material things that we may enjoy as we use them for His glory.

Our problem is that we don’t seem to understand what it is to manage something or to be a steward. A steward in the ancient world was a servant who managed his master’s goods. A wealthy master would give a trusted servant the responsibility of taking care of his business. It was not unusual for a master to give complete control of his wealth to his steward trusting him to make the day to day decisions. However, the property still belonged to the master and he was still ultimately in control.

We misunderstand stewardship when we make decisions concerning the use of our wealth without seeking God’s direction. We misunderstand stewardship when we fail to give to God’s work through the local church and when we fail to help others in need when we have the opportunity. We misunderstand stewardship when we live our lives as we want to live them without following God’s direction and seeking His will.

When we “lean on our own understanding” we are trying to do things in the way we want to instead of God’s way. When we fail to give up control of our lives to God, it will lead to disobedience and worry.

While it is scriptural to save and plan ahead for the future, these things can never take the place of dependence upon God. How we look at our wealth is an picture of our relationship to God.

God does not allow problems to come in our lives, because He does not care. He wants us to learn that we can trust Him no matter what circumstances we may be facing. Neither does He bless us just so we can consume it all. God may have blessed us to supply a particular need in our life, but many times that blessing has come our way so that we may be able to share with someone else in need or give in a greater way to the Lord’s work.

Biblical stewardship is using the things God gives us in the manner which He wants us to use them. That will involve trusting God to provide what we need to serve Him.

If we trust our wisdom, we will fail. If we trust our strength, we will fail. If we trust our riches, it will fail. But if we trust in God, He will never fail.