Larry and I had made a major purchase from a Christian business. Later, they informed us they couldn’t supply the item and promised a refund. When we didn’t receive the refund after repeated requests, I was furious. No one is gonna cheat me! I couldn’t believe that God would want His money treated this way—especially by people who called themselves Christians!
One day as I had my devotions, my thoughts again turned to the situation and my anger returned. I wrote in my journal, “This is a test of whether we are stewards or owners of God’s money. Father God, this is not hidden from Your sight and neither are Your eyes closed and uncaring. Thank you that I can surrender this to You.”
I decided to find a verse to memorize so that when my anger welled up again, I could meditate on that verse. The Lord whispered in my heart, “Look at Jeremiah 17.” At first I resisted because I knew that passage didn’t deal with this situation. But when He whispered it again, I turned there. At the top of that page, a verse I’d marked in yellow many years earlier caught my eye.
“My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes.” (Jeremiah 16:17 NIV)
Those were some of the very words I’d just written in my journal! God was telling me that He truly was aware and that He was with me in that moment. He wanted to help me have a godly response to the situation. From that time on, whenever my anger returned, I again sensed God’s presence and His affirmation that He cared about us and His money!
In time, we did receive the refund, but God had already done the important part: helping me release God’s money.
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” Matthew 6:24 (NIV)