This post is about Pennies. Pennies are money. This post is about money.
Now that might scare you. We don’t like to talk about money.
Don’t run away quite yet. Talking about money doesn’t have to be such a hot spot.
My husband and I are in the process of getting a loan so we can buy property so we can build a house. So I’ve been thinking about money A LOT.
Some people worry about money; I don’t. Some people try to hoard their money; I don’t. Still others have trouble being generous; I don’t. Everyone has their own heart issue when it comes to money, and here’s mine: I don’t want to think about it if I can help it. And if I do have to think about, I will think about it for a long time, meticulously planning and figuring out every tiny thing.
While that is not necessarily a bad thing, God has been working on my heart to see money in a new way. So here’s my new definition of money: Money is a physical representation of God’s provision.
Everything we have (I mean, really, everything) is God’s provision. However money is interesting because by itself, it can’t do anything. You can’t eat it. It doesn’t keep you warm or shelter you from rain and cold. It’s not a great fuel source. All it does is get you those things. So money represents God’s provision.
Whether we have a lot or a little, whether we are trying to make a huge purchase or save for the future or just buy groceries, when we see the number on the bank account or the cash in hand, we should think, “Wow, God gave me this!”
All the time I was spending meticulously planning and figuring out numbers, I forgot to look around and be thankful. I forgot to be thankful for the money itself. I forgot to be thankful for all the things we’ve already bought with money. I forgot to look around and say, “Wow! Look how God has provided for us!” God is continually blessing us, so we should be continually thankful. As the Lord gives, He can also take away. When He does, we need to remember that it was His in the first place, and we deserve zero dollars and zero blessings.
When we see money as a representation of God’s provision, we should see it as something else too: a way for God to provide for others, through us.
People everywhere are struggling. There have always been people without enough and there always will be, until Christ returns in glory. It could be the homeless family down the street, the single mom at the food pantry, or the family in Asia living on less than a dollar a day. I don’t know what financial struggles you have been through, but I can gratefully say that my bank account has never said $0. I have never run out of money to buy food. That’s more than millions of people around the world can say.
And that’s why our money is more than God’s provision for us, it’s also His provision for others. God has blessed us abundantly so that we can give to others generously, without holding back, as God has given to us. This comes in so many ways, whether giving through an organization, a church, or directly to people you know who are in need. Money shouldn’t become some sort of “I’m better than you because God gave me more.” God gave you more so you can give to those who have less! He could have given you less and someone else more. He could have given everyone less, because that’s what we deserve. But instead, He wanted us to know the joy of giving. He wanted us to feel the joy and love in blessing someone else. As Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35b)
And you know what? The more we share, the more God provides. If He sees we are handling what He has given us well, often He will bless us more. Not as some sort of medal for our good works, but as a way to bless even more people through us. Because that’s the main point: God’s provision. God’s blessings. God’s glory.
Let me tell you story about a man named John Wesley. John Wesley is known for starting the Christian denomination of Methodism. Wesley’s extensive writing and preaching made him one of England’s wealthiest men. At the time of his death, his net worth was about $50 million. During a time when a single man could live a comfortable life on 30 pounds a year, Wesley made 1,400. Though Wesley had grown up poor, he became a very wealthy man.
In a sermon about money, he once said, “Gain all you can, save all you can, give all you can.”
Wesley became convicted in college about how God was asking him to use his money. He figured out that he could live on 28 pounds in a year, but he made 30. So he gave two away. The next year, he made 60 pounds but could still live on 28, so he gave away 32. Each year, he made more and more money. He did not change his living costs, but gave more and more every year. So when he made over 1,400 pounds, he still lived on 30 and gave away more than 1,370 pounds. His money was given away to charity as fast as it came in. He never had more than 100 pounds at a time.
Wesley once said, “When I die if I leave behind me ten pounds…you and all mankind can bear witness against me, that I have lived and died a thief and a robber.” When he died, the only money found was a few miscellaneous coins in his pockets and dresser drawers. Over his lifetime, he had made 30,000 pounds (modern american equivalent of over $6 million).1
John Wesley understood money. He understood that his money was not his to use as he pleased, but it was God’s to be used for God’s purposes. He understood that God had blessed him so he could bless others. And because of that, because he used his money wisely, God gave him more and more to be responsible for.
“Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.” (Luke 12:48)
A penny saved is a penny earned. Count them and you’ll see. Every single one is God’s blessing upon me. So count your many pennies, count them one by one. And it will amaze you what the Lord has done. 2
- 1. Source: Ling, Stanley T. 2019. What Did Wesley Practice And Preach About Money? West Ohio Conference, The United Methodist Church. https://www.westohioumc.org/conference/news/what-did-wesley-practice-and-preach-about-money
- 2. “A Penny Saved is a Penny earned” attributed quote to Benjamin Franklin; poem line loosely based and inspired by the hymn Count Your Blessings By Johnson Oatman, 1897.