Paycheck

Have you already made plans for next month’s paycheck?

Most of us are counting on future paychecks to pay off bills, make purchases, etc. We are anticipating that we will stay healthy enough to work, and that our jobs will continue to provide us with salaries and benefits. We know that thousands of people become disabled and unemployed every month. Yet, we put deposits on new houses and vacations based on the conviction that these scenarios are unlikely to happen to us. Is this confidence grounded in reality?

According to Dallas Willard: Faith is confidence grounded in reality. It sees the reality of the unseen or invisible, and it includes a readiness to act as if the good anticipated in hope were already in hand because of the reality of God.

We act as if we will always have the power to generate income, even though statistics show that our presumptions are not based on reality. Yet, at the same time, we hesitate to depend on God, because we think that what is unseen and invisible is not real. Our jobs may have been providing paychecks for several years, but God has been providing for us for generations: air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat, shelter from harshness, healing, safety, guidance, love...Just look back at your own life thus far and trace how God has brought you through impossible situations. If you imagine that all of this is random or because of your own ability and hard work, then your confidence is not grounded in reality.