"Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God."
The take home from yesterday's post is, "Don't Trust Money." Everything on the planet is doing its very best to erode the stability and security of money. Dave Ramsey says that we need to have a plan for our money because if we don't, there are thousands of companies with highly educated, motivated, experienced and talented people that do.
Every commercial on TV, every pretty Hollywood actor, every new cell phone feature, every professional athletic event and a zillion other things that surround us every day is the product of someone's well thought out plan for our money. Their plans all have one thing in common: They get our money (hopefully before we even earn it), and we don't.
What Ramsey forgets to tell us is that even if we make our own plan and keep our money, we still don't have it. Through taxation, devaluation or inflation, the value of money erodes. Like chariots and horses in days gone by, it's just not capable of providing the security it promises.
I don't trust money, but I trust my ability to make money. Money is an outcome - a fruit of my labor, imagination, experience, faith and passion. But where do these things come from? From my character, forged in the furnace of life over the past few decades, on purpose, tested at times, affirmed at times, but solid and real.
I trust my character because it is built on more than my shallow desire and pleasure. I hear others say that they only trust themselves. I don't see how they can trust themselves when nobody else on the planet can believe anything they say. I am a trustworthy person. Others can trust what I say and what I do. This gives me confidence (faith) to trust myself.
And I trust the concepts, ideals and wisdom that I have tried to imitate and integrate into my character. God created me me and God created the universe. It stands to reason that He knows better than I how best to relate the two. And what is His wisdom? A laundry list of "Thou Shalts" and "Thou Shalt Nots"? Nope.
His wisdom is that life comes down to loving and giving - making a positive difference in the world around us and the people we encounter. Doing all that I do in a way that demonstrates respect and honor for Him. It is really His character, infused into and flowing out of me, that I have confidence in.
This confidence transcends money, chariots and horses. It is confidence in that which is universally and objectively Right, Good, Pure and True. And it's a much more stable foundation to believe in then my checking account balance, I guarantee.