Have you ever been to the tiger paddock at the zoo? It’s amazing to watch how other people act when they walk into that area. People stand with their backs to the tigers, often alongside small children, to get their picture taken. There is only an inch of glass between them and a ferocious animal who is currently looking at that small child like a tasty snack. Most people and even parents don’t worry or think twice about it. They feel secure knowing that the glass barrier was built to protect them and feel there is nothing to fear from the tiger as long as that barrier is there. Apparently they haven’t watched Jurassic Park. 

Many people see their money and possessions like that glass barrier. Today’s verse from Proverbs describes how people often get their hearts so twisted they begin to put their hope, faith, trust, and security in their money. They imagine that their wealth is their fortified city, and imagine it as a wall or barrier that nothing bad will be able to penetrate. But life is not like that. Money doesn’t prevent loved ones from dying. It may help to slow the process, but eventually, everyone dies. Money also doesn’t stop depression or a lack of fulfillment from creeping into your heart. We need to take a long, hard look at what money has become in our lives, because for many, money has become something it was never intended to be.

So what is money to you? Is it a means to help others, or is money a means to happiness? Is money your security or do you trust in God for your protection?  Is money your peace or does God give you peace? When you have money, you have peace, and when you lack money you are anxious. Is money your joy? When I have it I’m smiling, when I don’t I’m not. Is money your hope? Does your future look bright only if you look ahead and see yourself becoming wealthy at some point?

For people who depend on their wealth to be what it is not intended to be, the very thing you sought to gain will become a trap that will always let you down. Money is tricky because it sparks desires in us that can cause us to lose freedom in many ways. Most people don’t want to be a slave to debt or a slave to money; yet millions of people are slaves to money in some way. Ironically, we can easily become slaves to money by either having a lot of it, or if we feel we don’t have enough. We think about money; we dream about it. We stress about it. And this obsession can happen if we lack money, or if we have lots of it. Either way, we’ve allowed something to consume our hearts that was never intended to. 

Once again, There is nothing wrong with being wealthy or desiring to be financially successful. This is a worthy pursuit and we believe God blesses people financially. Many wealthy and financially secure people are also spiritually wealthy and that wealth is a great blessing to them and many others. These are great godly people who possess a lot of money, but they also have an accurate & biblical view of what money is and is not. They have allowed money to be a faithful servant, and not their master. 

This whole message comes down to what is in your heart, not your bank account. When your heart is right about money, it becomes easier to live open-handed and generously. It’s difficult to be generous when you imagine money is your fortified wall that will keep out anything bad in life. Why would we give away or be generous with a part of our defensive wall? But when you know that God is the source of all you have, even your protection and peace, it becomes less scary to give away what God has blessed you with. The same God who provided yesterday is the same God who will provide tomorrow; so you have nothing to fear in generosity. There is a trap and bondage found in having a heart simply desiring to acquire more and more. But there is freedom, peace and true joy found in desiring to give more and choose to live open-handed.

Let’s be people who leave a legacy of seeing God as our protection and peace instead of money!