Widespread poverty compromises the financial freedom of many around the world, often resulting in a distrust of governments and society. Even those who aren’t struggling financially and the well-to-do no longer trust that their wealth is safe, given a global interconnectedness that makes financial systems susceptible to fraud, collapse of banks previously thought “too big to fail,” fluctuations in currency stability, depreciation of securities and other assets, etc. There’s certainly an erosion of trust in financial systems, practices, and institutions.

So, can we confidently trust our finances to God? The very notion may seem laughable to those who see God as a mere theoretical concept having little, if anything, to do with human affairs such as money matters; yet, this is a false, limited view.

As far back as Bible times, many trusted God for their financial needs and weren’t disappointed. One example is the widow who fully paid her debt from the sale of oil that multiplied through the prophet Elisha’s trust in God’s provision. Christ Jesus also proved God to be the practical and trustworthy source of supply when he paid the temple tax for himself and his disciple Peter from money found in a fish’s mouth. These examples may seem difficult to identify with in today’s financial climate, but they show that trusting God for our financial health is not unheard of or impractical.