I have been sitting on this post for a bit. I would love your feedback!
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When I graduated from Texas Tech in 2008, you could say that I lived in a state of naivety. You see, I was one of the students who thought diplomas were handed out on gold platters, and that employers would be lining up for graduates, graduates like me. Sure, there was this nagging thought in my mind that maybe a finance degree wasn't quite the magic fairy dust that it was in 2006, but that didn't discourage me. I finally landed the job from Hades as a property/casualty insurance adjuster for catastrophic events. I won't go into that... but let's just say it was slightly more jolting than a severe reality check.
In the wake of that job, I struggled. I struggled with value. I struggled with time. I struggled with the fear of my alarm clock or a ringing telephone. Did I mention it was the job from Hades?
The struggle that has stayed with me the longest is the concept of money and how I can possibly relate to it as a Christian. To start with, I had the choice that so many other fresh graduates have: Do I choose to finance my lifestyle to live in the fashion I am used to? Or do I choose to live according to my means based on the actual dollars coming in? Conflicting messages are everywhere. Obviously advertisement and prime time tv leans toward buying everything you can. Then right when I start dreaming about the possibilities, I'll pick up a book like 7 by Jen Hatmaker, and I become disgusted by the American surplus. You can see how a girl's head can kind of get caught in a whirlwind.
So this struggle has continued, on some level, for the past 4 years. And then I read this:
The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. (Genesis 39:2 ESV)
It was one of those moments where you're reading the word and you have a literal paradigm shift. I realized my question is bigger than currency. My question is, "It is ok to be successful? And what does that look like?"
Joseph, at this point in the game, is a slave. I'm guessing he isn't accumulating and building wealth. But nonetheless, he is successful. God wants all of us to be "successful." But we still must define success. I'm open to opinions, but in reading this... I understood success to mean "effectiveness." God wants us to be effective in our communications, in our business dealings, in our service to others, in our service to Him, and the list goes on! This is where my role shifts as well. My goal must be to effectively live in a way that glorifies God, and I am able to complete the missions He has set before me.
Brandon occasionally mentions that believing in Christ is not a "pauper's vow." On the other hand, it is not the key to millions and millions. This new idea of success - of living effectively for the glory of God - allows me to know it is ok to build wealth, if that's in God's plan, but to release the control and not be consumed by the notion. I've heard countless times that money is "amoral," but it is the way you utilize it that determines good or evil. It is my hope that with faithfulness and obedience, that God will allow us to be free from all debts so that we may better serve His kingdom.
I trust that God has our finances under control for the things that He wants for my little family. Meanwhile, it is my responsibility (more like: moral obligation) to handle our finances in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. That means budgeting, tithing, intentional spending, and giving. All of those things are... dare we say, counter-intuitive. But they marry together with faith and obedience to create a "successful" future.
What do you think? Are money and success concepts you have struggled with?
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