Trusting God in hard economic times
VideoTranscript
This is the video’s transcript, lightly formatted. Tap a time to jump to that moment.
It was a hot, dusty day in ancient Israel. The land was parched, the crops withering in the fields. The people were hungry, worried, and wondering where their next meal would come from. In the midst of this widespread famine stood a widow, a woman who already lost everything dear to her heart when her husband died. Now she faced the ultimate nightmare. She had only enough flour and oil for one last meal for herself and her son. After that, she expected they would die.
Into this bleak scene walked the prophet Elijah, sent by God to the specific woman in Zerapath. Picture the scene. Elijah, tired from his journey, approaches the town gate and sees this woman gathering sticks. He calls out to her, asking for water. And as she turns to get it, he adds another request. Please bring me a piece of bread, too. I can almost see her shoulders slump as she turns back to him.
As surely as the Lord your God lives, she replies. I don't have any bread, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil and a jug. I'm gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son that we may eat it and die. Her words hang in the air between them. This was her reality, the end of the line. But Elijah's response must have seemed almost cruel at the time. Don't be afraid.
Go home and do as I have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from whatever you have and bring it to me and then make something for yourself and your son. Can you imagine? This woman is preparing for her last meal before starvation. And this prophet asks her to give him the first portion. But then comes the promise that would change everything. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, "The jar of flour will not be used up, and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land."
What happened next required tremendous faith. This widow had to choose. Trust this strange prophet and his invisible God, or hold tightly to what little she had. She chose trust. She went home and did exactly as Elijah told her. And you know what? The miracle happened.
Day after day, she would go to the jar in that jug and somehow there was always enough. Never plenty, never excess, just enough. The Bible tells us in First Kings 17, "She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up, and the jug of oil did not run dry in keeping with the word the Lord had spoken by Elijah." For many months, while famine gripped the land, this little household experienced God's daily provision. Not wealth, not abundance, just daily faithful provision, enough.
I think about this woman often. I wonder how many mornings she woke up with a knot in her stomach, wondering, "Is this the day the flower finally runs out?" How many times does she reach into that jar with trembling hands, expecting to find it empty? Yet day after day, God proved faithful. This story speaks directly to where many of us find ourselves today. The economic landscape can look just as barren as that droughtstricken land. Many of us are living paycheck to paycheck, watching prices rise while our incomes stay the same or sometimes go down.
Some of us have lost jobs or had hours cut back. Medical bills, housing costs, education expenses. They pile up like the gathering storm clouds in Elijah's day that refused to release rain. You might be sitting there now thinking, "I'm down to my last little bit of flour, too. I don't see a way forward." Maybe you've been job hunting for months with no success. Maybe unexpected expenses have drained your savings.
Maybe debt has been mounting and you can't see a way out. Like that widow, you might be gathering sticks for what feels like your last meal. Well, let me tell you, God sees you there at the town gate. He knows exactly where you are and what you need. And just as he directed Elijah to that specific widow, he hasn't forgotten about you either. But here's where it gets challenging. God's way of providing often requires us to first act in faith.
Notice that the miracle didn't happen until after the widow gave her portion to Elijah. The flower didn't multiply while safely stored in her pantry. It multiplied when she took the risk and gave first. This is the counterintuitive economics of God's kingdom. Jesus would later teach the same principle when he said in Luke 6:38, "Give and it will be given to you. A good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Now, I'm not suggesting you give away your last dollar as some kind of prosperity formula. That's not what this is about. But I am suggesting that clinging tightly to what we have out of fear often constricts the very channel through which God wants to provide. The widow and Zerapath learned that God's provision often comes one day at a time. She never had a stockpile. The jar was never suddenly filled to overflowing. Each day required renewed faith.
Each day presented the opportunity to trust again. And isn't that exactly how Jesus taught us to pray? In Matthew 6:11, within the Lord's Prayer, he instructs us to pray, "Give us today our daily bread." Not weekly bread, not monthly, not three years worth, but daily bread. God often provides just enough for today because he wants us back tomorrow, relating to and depending on him. When the Israelites wandered in the desert, God provided mana, but only enough for each day. If they tried to afford it, it would rot.
In Exodus 16:19-20, it says, "Then Moses said to them, no one is to keep any of it until morning." However, some of them paid no attention to Moses. They kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. There's something about our human nature that wants security we can see and control. We want to say, "Look, I've got plenty stored up. I'm good." But God often leads us into places where we must depend on him daily.
Where our security comes not from what we can see in our storehouses, but from knowing the character of the one who provides. Think about your own life journey for a minute. Have you already experienced this kind of provision? Take some time to reflect. Haven't there been seasons when you didn't know how you'd make it through, yet somehow you did? Bills that seemed impossible to pay, yet somehow they were paid? needs that arose unexpectedly, yet somehow they got met.
You're still here, aren't you? Still breathing, still moving forward. Despite all the economic hardships you've faced in the past, you might be facing today. You've made it to this moment. That wasn't just good luck or coincidence. That was God's faithfulness to you. I can tell you from experience, I've been 50 cents in the hole more times than I can count.
And yet, here I am, too. God has never failed me. The psalmist reminds us in Psalm 37:25, "I was young and now I'm old. Yet, I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread." This doesn't mean believers never experience hardship. Clearly, they do. But it does mean that God doesn't abandon his people.
He walks with us through the valley. He doesn't just greet us on the other side. When the prophet Jeremiah witnessed the complete economic collapse of Jerusalem with people starving in the streets during the Babylonian siege, he still wrote these words in Lamentations chapter 3. Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed. For his compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.
In the midst of what looked like God's judgment, Jeremiah could still recognize his mercy. When it seemed like everything was falling apart, he could still see that God's compassions were being renewed every morning. So, you know, I'm not talking about something I've never experienced. Let me give you a few examples from my life. The first one was when I was a much younger man of about 20 years old. My brother and I took a job in Dallas, Texas. It was offered to us by a brother in the congregation.
It looked really promising at first, but no sooner had we moved, a dispute arose between the owner of the company that I work for and the hotel where we did the work. I wasn't getting paid. Based on the promises, I expected a good first paycheck, which I was going to use to buy furniture because we didn't have any. We slept on the floor for weeks. I was depressed and despondent. I didn't know what I was going to do. As my brother and I were leaving the apartment one day, the maintenance manager approached us.
He said he'd noticed that we hadn't moved any furniture in when we came and he asked if we had any. We were honest. We told him no, we didn't. He said he had a garage full of furniture for someone who'd moved out and just left it all. He'd been storing it in one of his garages, but needed the garage to park a truck in. He said he couldn't give it to us for nothing, but how about 50 bucks? Between my brother and I, how much money do you think we had in our threadbear wallets in that moment?
That's right, $50. The furniture wasn't fancy, but it was everything we needed. Then, when I was in my late 20s, I started a software business, which grew successful very quickly. I ran that business for 20 years until the response to C19 destroyed my market. I was left in debt and needing to replace a significant income. I took a job for the first time in decades. And that required humility on my part.
Wasn't the owner anymore, just another employee. After about a year, I sold my house, which gave me enough money to pay off some debt and put more savings away. This year, though, as economic fears increased due to the election of a new president, things slowed down. The reason I've been able to make so many videos lately is because I haven't had as much work. I don't know what will happen. Will work pick up? Will God move me to another job?
Or will there be some unexpected event that takes care of the situation or something else? I don't know. But this I do know. God is watching. He's cared for me throughout the past, and he'll keep on caring for me today. You see, I wrote this sermon to help people just like me. I needed to hear what I'm telling you now.
I'm not special. We're all the body of Christ and we all deal with the same kinds of problems. But my past has shown me God's hand way too many times for me to panic. Now, that's not to say I never feel anxiety, but when I do, I take it to God and I leave it there. Psalm 52:55:22 says, "Cast your burden on the Lord and he shall sustain you. He shall never permit the righteous to be moved." I believe that absolutely and I hope you do, too.
So, what does this mean for you right now in your current economic situation? First, it means acknowledging the reality of your situation while simultaneously acknowledging the reality of who God is. The widow didn't deny her circumstances. She was honest about having only enough for one last meal. But she was willing to believe there might be more to the story than what she could see. Second, it means taking practical steps forward while trusting God with the outcome. Faith doesn't mean sitting passively back waiting for money to fall from heaven.
The widow still had to go home, take out her flour and oil and bake the bread. In the same way, you need to update that resume, apply for that assistance, have that difficult budget conversation or develop that new skill. Do the practical work while trusting God with the results. The Apostle Paul understood this balance very well. In Philippians 4:11 through13, he wrote, "I'm not saying this because I'm in need, for I have learned to be content with whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need and know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
I can do all this through him who gives me strength." Paul had experienced both economic abundance and economic hardship. He had known hunger and fullness, need and plenty. Yet, he found that the secret to navigating these extremes wasn't in changing his circumstances, but in drawing strength from Christ, regardless of his circumstances. There's something profoundly freeing about this perspective. When our security is in Christ rather than our bank accounts, we can face economic uncertainties with the steadiness that others find baffling, we can make decisions based on wisdom and faith rather than panic and fear. But let me be real with you, it ain't easy.
When the bills are piling up and the kids need new shoes and the car breaks down, it takes serious spiritual muscle to keep trusting. It's normal to feel afraid, to wonder if God has forgotten you, to question if his promises still apply. The father in Mark 9 understood this tension. When Jesus told him that everything is possible for one who believes, the man immediately exclaimed, "I do believe. Help me overcome my unbelief." In Mark 9:24, what a beautifully honest prayer. He was saying, "I'm trying to trust you, Jesus, but my faith is shaky.
Help me trust you more. That's a prayer God always answers. When we acknowledge our struggling faith and ask for stronger faith, God meets us there. He doesn't expect perfect faith. He responds to honest faith. Another practical step is to surround yourself with a community of believers who can support you during tough economic times. The early church modeled this beautifully.
In Acts chapter 4, we read, "All the believers were one heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. And God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who own land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales, and put it at the apostles feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need." Now, I'm not suggesting that we all sell our houses and create a commune, but I am suggesting that God often provides through the body of Christ. Sometimes his provisions come through a friend who shares a meal, a church that helps with an electric bill or a small group that knows about a job opening. Don't isolate yourself in economic hardship.
Lean into the community. It's also crucial to remember that God's provision might not look like what we expect. The widow probably hoped for rain to end the famine, for a return to normal agricultural production. Instead, God gave her a miracle in her kitchen. Sometimes we pray for a higherp paying job, but God provides through unexpected tax refunds, reduced expenses, or gifts we never could have anticipated. God's creativity in providing for his people is on display throughout scripture. He fed Elijah through ravens.
He sustained the Israelites with mana from heaven. He provided tax money for Jesus through a fish's mouth. As we read in Matthew 17:27, Jesus told Peter, "Go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch, open its mouth, and you will find a four drama coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours." God isn't limited by economic systems, job markets, or interest rates. He transcends all those human constructs.
He doesn't care what the economic state is like. Psalms 50 tells us, "For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. If I were hungry, I would not tell you. For the world is mine and all that is in it." This doesn't mean God will make all believers wealthy. Clearly, that's not the case. But it does mean that the resources to meet your needs are well within his capacity to provide.
Sometimes our anxiety about provision stems from confusing our wants with our needs. In Philippians 4:9 it says, "And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." Needs, not wants. God promises to provide what we need, not necessarily everything we desire. This calls for wisdom and sometimes painful honesty about distinguishing between the two. Do we need the latest smartphone or do we want it? Do we need an expensive vacation or do we want it?
These can be challenging questions, especially in a culture that constantly blurs the line between necessity and luxury. Jesus addresses this directly in Matthew 6:25 and 26 when he says, "Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air. They do not sew or reap or store away in barns and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more value than they? Jesus isn't saying that food and clothing don't matter.
Obviously they do. But he's saying that worry adds nothing constructive. The birds don't worry about provision yet God provides for them. How much more will he provide for you whom he loves deeply? Few verses later, Jesus gives us the antidote to economic anxiety. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. When our primary focus is on God's kingdom, his rule and reign in our lives and in the world, our perspective on material needs shifts dramatically.
This isn't a prosperity gospel that says, "Focus on God and you'll get rich." Rather, it's a promise that when we align our priorities with God's priorities, he ensures our needs are met while we pursue what matters most. Now, you might be thinking, "That all sounds good in theory, but my economic situation is really dire." I hear you. I've been there. Sometimes the gap between our resources and our needs seems impossibly wide. In those moments, remember the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000.
In John 6, Jesus is faced with a huge crowd of hungry people. The disciples see only the impossibility that it would take more than a half a year's wages to buy enough bread for everyone to have some. John 6:7. But Jesus asks what they have, and Andrew finds a boy with five small barley loaves and two fish. It's practically nothing compared to the need. Yet Jesus takes this completely inadequate offering, gives thanks for it, and begins distributing it. Somehow, it stretches to feed everyone until they're satisfied with 12 baskets of leftovers.
The principle is clear. In Jesus' hands, what seems inadequate becomes more than enough. What are your five loaves and two fish today? Maybe it's a part-time job that doesn't quite cover the bills. Maybe it's some skills that seem unmarketable in the current economy. Maybe it's a small savings that's rapidly dwindling. Whatever you have, place it in Jesus' hands.
Watch what he can do with it. Throughout history, followers of Jesus have discovered that God's provision often arrives just in time, not ahead of time. The Israelites had to walk right up to the edge of the Red Sea before it parted. The widow's jar provided each day's portion, not next month's supply. This requires a daily choice to trust. Fory Tinboom, who protected Jews during the Holocaust and later survived a Nazi concentration camp, often told the story of how as a child she became anxious about death. Her father asked her, "When we go to Amsterdam, when do I give you your ticket?"
She replied, "Right before we get on the train." "Exactly," he said. "And our heavenly father knows when we're going to need things, too. Don't worry about tomorrow because God will be there." God gives us what we need when we need it. Not always early, but never late. This has been true throughout your life already, hasn't it?
Think back to the hardest economic challenges you faced. Somehow, you got through them. Somehow, you're still here watching this. As the old hymn says, "Through many dangerous, toils, and snares, I have already come. His grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home." You've experienced God's faithfulness already. You've seen his provision in your past.
And that same God, the one who's gotten you through everything then is with you now. He hasn't changed. His love hasn't diminished. His resources haven't depleted. The prophet Isaiah reminds us in Isaiah 41:10, "So, do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you.
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. God doesn't just promise provision. He promises his presence. Sometimes that's what we need the most. Not just help with our circumstances, but help carrying the emotional weight of those circumstances. Economic hardship creates not just material strain, but emotional and spiritual strain. The constant stress can wear down our spirits and test our faith.
That's why the promise of God's strengthening presence matters so much. We need his help, not just to pay bills, but to maintain hope, to keep believing that there's a way forward. The widow at Zarapath would eventually see the end of the famine. Rain would finally come. Crops will grow again, and normal means of provision would resume. Your economic winter won't last forever either. Seasons change.
Opportunities arise. What seems impossible now may open up in ways you can't possibly imagine. Joseph spent years as a slave and a prisoner before becoming prime minister of Egypt. Ruth was a widowed immigrant, gleaning leftover grain before becoming the great grandmother of King David. The disciples were mostly workingclass fishermen before they changed the world. God specializes in unexpected turnarounds. As you wrap up, I want to challenge you with three practical steps.
First, take honest stock of your situation. What resources do you actually have? What needs are truly urgent versus what can wait? Getting clear about your economic reality is an act of faith, not fear. Second, bring your specific needs to God in prayer. Not vague help me financially prayers, but specific requests. Lord, I need $700 for rent by the first.
God, I need wisdom about whether to take the slower paying job or wait for something better. Father, show me if there are expenses I can cut without harming my family. Finally, look for the daily mana God is providing. Each day, try to identify at least one way you see God caring for you. Maybe it's a surprise discount, friend's generosity, an unexpected opportunity, or simply the strength to keep going. Recognizing God's provision increases our faith to trust him for tomorrow's needs. Remember, you're not facing these economic challenges alone.
The God who created the universe, who owns everything in it, walks alongside you. He sees your struggle. He knows your needs before you ask. And he is faithful, not just in theory, but in practice, as you've already experienced throughout your life. Until now, you've survived every economic hardship you faced. You're still here, still trusting, still moving forward. There's no reason to believe the future will be different.
The God who has been faithful will continue to be faithful. The God who has provided will continue to provide. Not always in the ways we expect or on the timeline we prefer, but perfectly according to his wisdom and love. Let this be our prayer. Aba, Father, in these uncertain economic times, help us to trust you more deeply. When we look at our resources and see only scarcity, remind us that you are the God of abundance. When we feel anxious about tomorrow's needs, help us to remember your faithfulness yesterday and today.
Give us wisdom to manage what you've entrusted to us, courage to take the steps you're calling us to take, and faith to believe that you will provide what we truly need. Help us to hold our material possessions loosely while clinging tightly to your promises. May our lives demonstrate a trust in you that inspires others who are also facing hard times. Thank you that you brought us through every previous challenge and that you'll be with us through whatever lies ahead in Jesus name. Amen. [Music]
