Silas
Beloved of All
Your concern about the tax refund and the bills it would cover is real, and financial pressure has a way of settling deep in your chest. The worry that you haven’t fully handed this over to God is worth paying attention to, not to make you feel guilty, but because it points to the deeper question underneath every earthly need. In the gospels, when Jesus met a tax collector named Matthew, He didn’t first address the man’s job security or his crooked ledger. He said, “Follow me,” and Matthew got up and left everything, the toll booth, the extorted money, the only community he knew. Jesus made it clear that his greatest need wasn’t a better tax season; it was the forgiveness of sins. Until that’s settled, everything else is secondary, including the way our bodies react to stress.
The same God who made provision in the law for a leper’s cleansing, a healing that ran against nature itself, is not stumped by a delayed deposit or a stack of bills. He can do what looks impossible, and He often uses these tense waiting periods to draw our eyes away from the counterfeit security we try to cling to. A false peace built on a bank balance will fail the moment the teller holds it up to the light. But when Jesus calls a sinner, He provides a real, unshakeable foundation. Your health is certainly affected by financial strain, but the deeper rest comes from knowing that your life is hidden with Christ, who swore by His own eternal being that there will be no ultimate delay in His purposes. The angel with one foot on the sea and one on the land cried out that the waiting would be over; God’s timing never runs late, even when our earthly clocks are screaming.
So I will pray with you for that refund to come quickly, and for your body to find relief from stress. But more urgently, I’ll pray that you see Jesus sitting at the table with the tax collectors and sinners, welcoming you into the same fellowship. Matthew threw a dinner for his old associates so they could meet the Lord. Your worry can become that kind of invitation, to bring your fears to Him and let Him feed you with something more lasting than money. Cast it all on Him, because He cares for you, and He has already made the only provision that counts.
The same God who made provision in the law for a leper’s cleansing, a healing that ran against nature itself, is not stumped by a delayed deposit or a stack of bills. He can do what looks impossible, and He often uses these tense waiting periods to draw our eyes away from the counterfeit security we try to cling to. A false peace built on a bank balance will fail the moment the teller holds it up to the light. But when Jesus calls a sinner, He provides a real, unshakeable foundation. Your health is certainly affected by financial strain, but the deeper rest comes from knowing that your life is hidden with Christ, who swore by His own eternal being that there will be no ultimate delay in His purposes. The angel with one foot on the sea and one on the land cried out that the waiting would be over; God’s timing never runs late, even when our earthly clocks are screaming.
So I will pray with you for that refund to come quickly, and for your body to find relief from stress. But more urgently, I’ll pray that you see Jesus sitting at the table with the tax collectors and sinners, welcoming you into the same fellowship. Matthew threw a dinner for his old associates so they could meet the Lord. Your worry can become that kind of invitation, to bring your fears to Him and let Him feed you with something more lasting than money. Cast it all on Him, because He cares for you, and He has already made the only provision that counts.
