How do you deal with the large uncertainty in income security that comes with missionary work?
The reality is that life (even for anyone else) is not truly secure. Jobs are never secure. Economy goes up and down. Government and big companies cut back all the time. Money is never truly secured. No matter how much one has , it will never seem enough. At the end of the day, can I trust the Lord for my daily bread? When I read Matthew 6:26 and read accounts of other missionaries, the Lord is proven to be faithful and trustworthy. Wai Jia and I are learning this wonderful truth currently in our lives. A pastor once said if you can trust in the Lord for your salvation, you can trust Him for your daily living as well!
The second part of this question is what if the Lord asks us to take a risk to follow Him and live in insecurity as a result. Should we say no? This becomes a contention of whether we are obedience to the Lord. Can we trust what Jesus says? When we called ourselves Christian, we are declaring the Jesus is the Lord and Savior over our lives. Lordship means He has 100% control over our lives. To be His disciples is an invitation. It is never by force. Jesus always starts off with an if when it comes to following Him. If you want to follow me, do this or do that. So the question should be, if the Lord asks us to follow Him at the expense of our ‘security’, should we still go? I would say, YES! Sometimes we think following the Lord is risky but in reality it is not because He takes care of us. Sometimes we think finding security (in investment, good job, savings etc) is safe but in reality they are sinking sand in disguise.
When we trust God, and give Him all that we have, He will bless us more than we can think or imagine. You may read about our testimonies of God’s repeated provision for us here: Above and Beyond, Beloved and 2012.
One Response
Our natural (or is it learned?) inclination to believe that something steady, sustained, and invariable is “secure” is unfounded. Cliff, did you read The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb? Very good illustration of how the lack of variability says nothing about actual security – and in fact, can give you a false and dangerous sense of security.
The banker who makes $X from a steady job year after year and then drops to $0 is not more secure – and arguably less so – than the taxi driver who makes $Y one day, $Z another day, and so on. Knowing that you will have variation and accounting for it may put you in a better position than someone who does not know (or refuses to acknowledge) that there is variation *at some time in the future*.
Stability can be a blessing, but can itself be a challenge. Instability can be a challenge, but may also be a blessing.
We each have faith in *something* or *someone*. Sometimes that’s faith in pure luck, faith in one’s own abilities alone… but that is as much faith as a believe and trust in God is faith.
I think belief and trust in God’s provision is far better grounded than faith in luck or one’s changing abilities 🙂