What Really Matters?

Turn on the TV, browse the internet, listen in on the conversations around you, and you’re likely to hear people talking about the current “economic crisis.” There are those who think the whole economy is going to come crashing down with devastating effects on families and businesses. And there are people who think it’s going to get better with time. There are people who think the bailout is the best way to handle the situation, and people who think it’s terribly unwise.

Regardless of all the speculation, one thing seems to stand out so clearly: how fragile it all really is. The façade of security has come tumbling down. It has been so easy to assume that we will always have the things we have, that we will always be able to get the things we need and the things we want. It has been so easy to assume that the jobs, the money, and the possessions we have today will still be there tomorrow. And it’s been so easy to buy into the idea that those things make us happy, that they give us a better “quality” of life.

When a family goes through financial struggles, they realize how fragile it all is. There is no guaranteed security in a job, a loan, money, stuff. Circumstances can change, and all those things could be gone or worth very little in the grand scheme of things. I think (I hope!) that our country as a whole may be starting to see that. We can’t put our hope and our security in money or things; there’s no guarantee that those things will last. Circumstances can change, and those things could be gone or worth very little.

It leaves us asking what really matters? What’s really important? What do we really need? What is true happiness? I can’t answer those questions for you, of course, but I can answer them for me. I’ve noticed that over the past couple of years my answers to those questions have changed. I’ve gotten to a place where I feel that I can be content with very little. Sure, it’s nice to have things we want—but it’s not necessary, or guaranteed, or something we’re entitled to. I feel like I’ve become a much simpler person. As long as my family has a safe place to live, food and water, a few clothes to wear, and the love of our family and friends, we have everything we need. Would it be fun and exciting to lose everything else? No, of course not—but if it happened, we’d be okay, because those things don’t really matter anyway.

When money is flowing freely and the economy is good and employment is high, it’s easy to think that we, not God, are providing for ourselves. And it’s easy, then, to place our trust and security in money, jobs, and material things. I find more and more wisdom in Jesus’ words; he emphasized over and over that God will provide our needs, we should treasure what really matters, and that we should serve God instead of money. What would happen if people all across America began following those principles?