How I organize myself / how I live ...

Wednesday, Nov 21, 2012. It can be quite a challenge, to live with the resources you have available. In particular, young families can tell the story. When the first kids come, things suddenly change from two salaries for two people to one salary for four people. And quickly, resources are getting extremely tight …

How to deal with things …

The question how we live with the resources we have is quite important. Every single individual has different ideas how to spend money. Some love to go out every second evening, and it is part of their life that you interact with others. Others have a completely different life style, they meet friends at home and save the money for other purposes, for example for renovating their house or buying a new car.

Over recent years I had a lot of discussions with people who are tight with money, since they live from just one salary as a family or they live from social aid. And in all these discussions I realized that the basic questions is not how much you have, but what is your life style and how do you spend what you have!

Also, there are those who plan well, who try to save resources for the day when they are needed, for particular purposes. There are others who never seem to be able to save. “I do not have enough to save” I have heard too many times - and I do not believe it. It is a matter of life style and where you want to spend what you have. It is a question of choices. I have seen those who had quite a lot and were still struggling with exactly the same questions, and I have seen those who had nearly nothing and could still save a lot.

Pauls advice and example …

Paul writes about needs and resources in Philippians 4: 10: I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Paul writes about these different life experiences, which probably everyone knows to some extent. There are times where we have plenty, perhaps even too much, and we think about how to spend all the money which is available. Plans grow, and our life style develops. And then there are times, where our resources are just not enough. We do no longer have the income to pay what we said we would pay or what we need to pay. And we suffer.

But in all of this, Paul refers us to the Lord. He is living with God, with Jesus, with the Holy Spirit. He is receiving strength from this relationship, from the power which created the world. God wants to be with us, day by day, and Paul experienced the power of the Lord in times of trouble, and in the easy times of life. We are invited, to follow him and experience it ourselves! (Roland Potthast) ... more texts