Survival of the Fittest; Surviving in this Financially-Driven Society

Surviving in this financially-driven society has become quite a feat. A long time ago, I made a conscious choice. I decided that I never wanted to be rich. I wanted to be able to "make it," ie: pay my bills, and have a little left over for the extras that I'd like to do or have. But I didn't want to be wealthy. The reason? Because I wanted to be liked or not liked, as the case may be, for who I was ... not for what I had.

There's a story told in Luke 15: 11 - 32, about a young man who was disheartened with his life at home. We don’t know the details of this young man’s growing up years or the reasons behind his displeasure and malcontent. We don’t know what type of personality his family members had or what type of personality he had. But because of what happened next, we do have a basic understanding of his family’s financial status. The young man wanted to leave home, so he went to his father and asked him for his inheritance. His father, operating out of wisdom that we are hard-pressed to understand until later on in the story, went along with his son’s request. The son then took that inheritance, left the “confines” of his home and family, and went to a faraway place.

It wasn’t long before the son was in trouble. He spent all his money on riotous living, and while he did so, he was deluged with friends. But soon the inheritance was gone, and because of that, his so-called "friends" left him as well. It so happened at about that same time, that the land he was living in began to experience a disastrous famine. Food was scarce. This prodigal son had no money left,  and no friends around to help him. So he was forced to seek employment. A neighborly citizen of the land hired him and sent him out to feed his pigs. The prodigal son, who once lived “high on the hog,” was now reduced to feeding them.

There have been times in my life when I regretted making that earlier decision about my finances ... especially because it turned out to be exactly what happened in my life. The good part is that I have been blessed with friends. True friends. Real friends. Friends who have been with me through thick and thin. Friends who cared enough to care for me, and care about me. Friends who have not hesitated to confront me when I needed it, and friends who have had enough courage and compassion to put their arm around my shoulder when I needed comfort. And ... friends who have not run in the opposite direction because I had financial needs.

The seemingly not-so-good part is that I've lived most of my life from paycheck to paycheck. Those of you who are struggling in this current recession, understand what that means. There have been many times when I have wondered whether we were going to make it or not. This concern was exacerbated greatly because I have an inbred craving to get my bills paid on time, to keep my good credit standing, and to get out of debt. It was tough when the money ran out before the month did. But somehow we always had a roof over our heads, food on the table and clothes on our backs.

Because of the famine in the land, there soon came a time when there was not much for that young lad to eat. Eventually, he became so hungry that he considered eating the food he was giving to the pigs. Later, we will go on with the end of the story. But for now let’s examine just what it was that put this young man … and us … into the position of having to eat from a pigsty.

There is a saying in this world, “The grass is always greener on the other side.” It seems like somebody else always has “it” better. They have more fun than we do … or more money … or more laughs … or a bigger house … or a better car. Their kids behave better than ours … everybody likes them better … or they go on more vacations. They’ve got it easy, we’ve got it tough. Life is just passing us by. It seems like many people are discontent with their lives, just like that prodigal son. With the entrance of sin into the world, our relationship and communion with God was severed. We became separated from our Heavenly Father. At this occurrence, a vacuum was created — a hole, if you will – in our beings. We were no longer complete and whole; we were apart from the presence of God. So our self-nature filled in the gap. Instead of God being the center of our beings, self took the place. And with self on the throne, down we went.

The prodigal son’s experience personifies what we all go through. Self-nature becomes dominant, and selfishness is the outcome. Just as this young man, we want our part … and we want it now! The sensual lifestyle looks good, but we are blind to the realization that all that glitters is not gold. Focusing on the fleshly desires, our spiritual lives have become impoverished. When that happens, we generally hit the bottom of the barrel in self-degradation, humiliation, corruption, and disgrace. We have become “starved.” We have become blind to the truth that this fleshly life is but a wisp, a vapor that vanishes away after a short period of time. We have forgotten that soon we will be facing eternity, for our spirits will live on forever. This self-degradation … this separation … is something we may or may not even realize, depending upon whether our face is literally in the “pigsty,” or the stigma is spiritual and character related. In either case, we’ve all been there.

All that may look pretty bleak to you, but there is hope! As he came face-to-face with the food in that pigsty, a realization came to the prodigal son … the realization of what he had left behind. His father had servants, and they were eating better than him! He was dying of starvation, yet his very own father could restore him to life. All he had to do was go home! Once this unmistakable insight hit him, he immediately knew what he had to do. He decided that he would go to his father and admit his sin. The lad knew that because of his sin he was no longer worthy to be thought of as a son. So he would ask his dad to hire him on as one of the servants! Food, clothing, and shelter would once again be his, not to mention the fact that his life would be spared.

The prodigal son had an awakening, an awareness and conscious knowledge of his fragile position in life. He also had a revelation about what he needed to do in order for his life to be spared. One more thing he had at that point, which he did not realize that he possessed the moment before, was a choice. He knew where he was and knew what he had to do to get out of the mess he was in. Now he had a choice; he could do what was necessary (repent and go home), or abstain from action and stay like he was.

I've been faced with that same choice. While I've never had my face literally in a pigsty (thank God!), I've had to change the way I was doing things; change the way I handled my finances. Change details such as the way I grocery shopped, or the amount of clothes or household items I bought. Change the amount of cable channels I have had. But through the years, we've always had a roof over our heads, food on our table and clothes on our backs.  Looking back at some of those times in my life, I have no idea how we made it through those financial droughts. Well, yes I do. It was a God thing for sure.

I've also had to repent many times for my lack of trust and for my worrying. And I've had to get some priorities straight. Sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees ... and my financial life was like that. Now I've lived long enough to be able to look back on some things. And I can tell you in all honesty that it's God who sustains me. God is real, He's alive and He's a good God. And He cares about His children ... even their financial states.  We have all been separated from Him, as was the prodigal son separated from his father.  But we, too, have the same choice in life. We can repent and return to the Father. And place even our finances in His most capable hands, using wisdom from His Word to conduct our financial matters. And when we do, we will be among the "fittest."

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