I have a set of questions I pose to people who come to me for help finding their purpose. One of those questions is, "If you had all the money you needed to live, what would you do with your life? How would you fill your time?" More often than not, people struggle to answer. They may tell me they would travel, but when I ask, "Where? they don't know. They sometimes say they would buy a boat or build their family a new home, but since they have never dreamed of what they could do that isn't tied to money, they can't easily answer my question.
With that in mind, I'm ready to start a new series that will eventually become a book and the title for now is "Purpose and Finances." I'm going to lead you through a six-month study of biblical financial principles that will help you answer the question I mentioned at the start: What would you do if you had all the money you needed to live on? But in order to get there, you're going to have to re-think what your parents and your culture and your profession and even your church have told you about finances. That is going to take some time and effort but the rewards will be worth it.
In the next twenty-five weeks, you will learn that you do not work to make money. I'll explain that if the evil one can't keep you from your purpose, then he will exercise what I call "economic terrorism" to keep you from fulfilling it—and God will allow it to happen. You'll see that God promises to provide for all your needs—your purpose needs that is—so you can bear fruit and do His will and thus one of your roles is to create more need. We will re-examine the concepts of giving and generosity and show that those two things are not the key to your financial success. And there will be much more that will challenge your thinking and release you from old patterns of thinking and expectations where money is concerned.
If God wants you to do His will, and of course He does, then He must provide but you must be clear as to what it means that God is your Provider. Otherwise you will wait and wait to engage your purpose but won't be able to do so because you never settled the money issue, clarifying God's role and yours in your provision. So stay tuned and tell your friends about this series that will focus on money but only as a means to help you find and fulfill your creative purpose—something God wants you to do more than you do. Have a blessed week.
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