When Financial Security Becomes the Measuring Stick

One of the most difficult parts of my journey in From Success to Surrender was learning to trust God with our finances.

That is not easy for me to admit.

I have always wanted to be responsible. I have wanted to provide well for my family, plan wisely, save appropriately, and make decisions that reflect good stewardship. None of those desires are wrong. In fact, I believe they are good.

But somewhere along the way, I began to recognize that financial security had become more than a stewardship issue for me.

It had become a measuring stick.

If our finances were strong, I felt more confident that I was doing well and walking faithfully. If our finances were tight, I found myself questioning whether I was really hearing God, whether I was making wise decisions, and whether I was truly living out the calling He had placed on my life.

That is a heavy way to live.

During one especially difficult season, I was part of an advisory group, and I came into the meeting carrying the weight of a tax bill I was not sure how we were going to pay. I told the group that the bill was the presenting issue, but the deeper question was whether I was really doing what God was calling me to do.

The group offered wise counsel, but the most impactful moment came when the facilitator asked me a simple question:

“Brother, what are you holding on too tight to?”

I pushed back at first. I told him I had been on my knees multiple times, surrendering everything to God. But he gently pressed further and said that what he was sensing was that my 401(k) had become my security blanket.

He was right.

I wanted to trust God, but I also wanted something I could point to that made me feel secure. I wanted to walk by faith, but I also wanted a backup plan that could quietly reassure me that we would be okay no matter what happened.

That moment became a turning point.

It did not mean we stopped planning. It did not mean we became careless. It did not mean we ignored financial wisdom. But it did mean God was inviting me to loosen my grip and recognize that my true security could not be found in an account balance.

As Christopher narrated the audiobook, this theme stood out to him in a deeply personal way because he and Michelle have been living their own version of that journey.

Their health journey has been expensive. There have been seasons where he worked hard to pay off debt, only to have another medical expense surface. He described the frustration of trying to build an emergency fund, only to watch it get wiped out again. He has wrestled with whether he was being responsible enough, saving enough, preparing enough, or doing enough.

In other words, he has felt the same tension I have felt.

He wants to be wise. He wants to plan. He wants to provide. He wants to steward what God has given him well.

But he is also learning that even good things can become places where we search for security apart from God.

What encouraged me as we talked was hearing him describe how God has continued to provide. Not always with more than enough. Not always with the margin he would prefer. Not always with the financial breathing room he wants.

But enough.

Enough for today.

Enough for the next step.

Enough to keep trusting.

That has been one of the hardest and most beautiful lessons of our family’s story. God has not always provided in the way I would have scripted. There have been seasons where I would have preferred abundance, clarity, and visible security. Instead, He often invited us to live with dependence, daily trust, and open hands.

And if I am honest, this is still an area where God continues to work in me.

Even recently, Lisa and I were talking about how financial security can still feel like a thorn in the flesh for me. I can still be tempted to use our finances as a barometer for how well I am doing at walking out God’s calling.

But that is a poor barometer.

The better question is not, “Do I feel financially secure?”

The better question is, “Am I walking with God today?”

Am I listening?

Am I obeying?

Am I stewarding wisely?

Am I holding the plan loosely?

Am I trusting Him as Provider, not just trusting the provision itself?

Perhaps that is a question for all of us.

There is nothing wrong with saving, planning, investing, or preparing. Those can be faithful and wise things to do. But when our peace rises and falls entirely with the numbers, it may be a sign that financial security has become something more than stewardship.

It may have become the place where we are trying to find what only God can give.

If you are in a season of wrestling with provision, calling, uncertainty, or what it looks like to trust God with open hands, I hope this serves as a reminder that God is often doing a deeper work than we can see in the moment.

He may not always provide in the way we would script.

But He remains faithful.

And sometimes the greatest gift He offers is not greater security, but greater dependence on Him.

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Continue the Journey

The audiobook version of From Success to Surrender, narrated by my son Christopher, is now available on Amazon and Audible. If this story resonates with you, I’d be honored for you to listen and continue the journey with us.