I used to work at Brenton Bank. Non-Iowans have probably never heard of it, especially because it doesn’t exist anymore (it was bought by Wells Fargo back in 2001). My manager there used to say, “Change: you can bank on it.” Well my current workplace is making changes again. Without going into details, suffice it to say that starting next week I will be making $300 less per month. That’s a hefty chunk of change. There are other changes coming down the pike, and rumors abound.

I was upset when I heard these things. But then I realized there’s not really much I can do about it. And then I remembered something else: God is still in charge. He knew I would be taking a pay cut next month. He knew, and He is still Yahweh Yireh, The Lord who Provides. We really need to stop allowing our financial situation to determine our level of felt security. Do you feel financially secure? If you lost your job would you feel less secure? If you lost your job, would God not care about you anymore?

Matthew 6:25 and following talks directly to people who worry. Verse 27 asks which of us can get taller just by worrying. The obvious answer is none of us. Verse 34 says, “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (NASB). The last line sounds better to me in the King James, “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

People have asked me, “Why do you go to church three times a week?” After years of questioning by people who don’t go that much, I have finally come up with a good answer: Spiritual fitness. I know people that go to the gym three, four, or even five times a week to keep up their physical fitness. Their bodies are important to them, and so they take care of them. Well, my spirit is important to me. Why? Think about this: How long did Methuselah live? 969 years. How long has he been a spirit? About 5000 years.

You see? We only live on earth for a short period of time, and this is the only time that we have. I realized three things recently:

1. Jesus Christ could return at any moment.
2. I could die at any moment.
3. I expect to live for another 30 years or so.

There’s a difference between our expectation and reality. Nobody expects to die soon. Except for those who have been told by a doctor that they are about to die, every single one of us thinks we are going to live for years after today. But you know what: not all of us will. My mother has three brothers. Her youngest brother died in 1996 at the age of 34. Her next youngest brother died this month at the age of 57. And her older brother is still going strong in his late twenties (ha ha).  Who would have thought that these three brothers would die in reverse order of their birth?  Thinking about this should affect how I live my life here on earth. I don’t even know if these changes are going to affect me, because I might die between now and my next paycheck.  I need to stop getting upset by the changes that happen in my life. I need to stop worrying when things happen that I did not expect and don’t understand. I trust God, and that is enough.

C.T Studd said, “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.” Does it bother me that my workplace is cutting my pay? Sure, but not as much when I take an eternal perspective.