By Dr. Froswa Booker-Drew
There is a television commercial with actor Samuel L. Jackson asking, “What’s in Your Wallet?” The ad is informing viewers that when you spend your money, you will receive cashback from the company. The goal is to encourage you to not only get the card, spend money but expect something in return. Although there may be some benefit, the impact could be significant. “According to Experian’s 2019 Consumer Debt Study, total consumer debt in the U.S. is at $14.1 trillion, with Americans carrying an average personal debt of $90,460.” Having debt not only keeps us in bondage to those we owe but we have been told that our needs can be solved outside of us. We have been sold the idea that if we only get stuff, we will find happiness, peace, and joy from our material possessions. There is nothing wrong with the desire to have nice things, but when our identities are tied to the stuff, we have placed our trust in something outside of ourselves—when what we have been seeking has been there all along. We often doubt ourselves believing that if only we had that type of car, house, or job, our problems would be over.
We believe that if we only got “it,” (whatever your “it” is), things would change. We fail to recognize what we already have. In Exodus 4, Moses was doubting his ability because he stuttered. He did not believe that people would listen to him not recognizing what he had was much bigger than what he believed he lacked. “Then Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to my voice? For they may say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you. 2 ’”And the LORD asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. 3 “Throw it on the ground,” said the LORD. So, Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 “Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail,” the LORD said to Moses, who reached out his hand and caught the snake, and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 “This is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.” God has given you dreams and a purpose despite what might be visible to others. God reminds Moses in this passage that what he needed for success was already there. He had a staff, something that he did not regard as necessarily important to his purpose.
What is it that you are disregarding because it is so common to you? What is already in your possession that has been dismissed as insignificant? Is there a talent, a dream, a gift that you have neglected? When you take what you have and believe God for multiplying it, watch how He will turn what is in your hand into something mighty and powerful. Many of you have gifts of gold that could be the key or solution to a problem but because you don’t feel you are smart enough, make enough money, or know the right people, you are dismissing what you do have…a God that is all-powerful who can take your gifts and turn what you see as irrelevant into something that will make people listen and change those around you. Scripture tells us in Deuteronomy 28:13 “And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord, your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them.” When you trust God for what you already have, you will not need to worry about what’s in your wallet. He will provide as soon as you take advantage of what is in your hand.
