This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

(upbeat music) - Welcome to Daily Drive Time Devotions. We're looking at
Proverbs chapter 13 today. As I told you a couple of days ago, this is a chapter
that has some more to say about how we handle the finances in our lives.

Proverbs 13, 11, gives us God's plan for wisely handling our finances. Listen to
what this verse says. Money that comes easily disappears quickly, but money that
is gathered little by little will grow.

The book of Proverbs is filled, it's filled with short to the point truths about
our money. It tells us how to use it, how to give it, how to save it, how to
enjoy it, but there may be no advice that is more appropriate for our daily
lives than that found in this verse. Now we all know this proverb in its
shortened form.

Money that comes easily disappears quickly, money that's gathered little by
little will grow, the shortened form is easy come, easy go. We know it, but very
few of us really believe that proverb. And because we don't believe it, Las
Vegas is thriving, the lottery industry is booming, and the habit of spending
shouldn't risk money on high-risk stocks is increasing.

Why do we do this? Because we think, we know somehow within our hearts that
money is the answer to our problems. Never mind the high percentage of miserable
rich people that you know, I didn't say miserably rich, I said miserable and
rich, never mind that.

We forget about the support groups for depressed lottery winners that we've read
about. There's within all of us this deeply seeded feeling that if I just had
some more money, things would be okay. And that feeling is what drives us to get
as much as we can as quickly as we can.

Well, here are the facts, this verse says. If you get it quickly, you're going to
lose it just as quickly. Quickly gotten gain will pull a Houdini on you every
time.

It somehow magically disappears. There is incredible wisdom here for getting out
of our financial messes. Never depend on a quick fix.

Always go for the patient plan. Stop telling yourself when my ship comes in and
get in the rowboat you have and start paddling. That's what this is saying.

Do what you can today. Save yourself the heartache of waiting for years for a
financial windfall that will blow away just as quickly as it came. Start to
gather little by little and watch God bring new financial security and stability
to your life.

Now that has to do with the job that you have where you gather little by little
instead of trying to find some job where you can make it all in a month. It also
has to do with the way that you handle your money as it comes in. You gather it
little by little.

That means you're saving some money little by little and you're watching it
grow. This is God's principle for savings accounts. You haven't started this
already?

Start today. If you've already started this, if this has been a habit of your
life, recognize that this is God's principle. That the fact that God has made
you more financially secure as you've gathered it little by little, it's not
your intelligence that's caused that to happen.

You're just tying into God's principle of how finances work. So thank God that
he's given you that wisdom. A lot of times when it comes to finances, I've noted
that people who are doing well financially tend to think, wow, this is my
wisdom.

Look at what I figured out. It's God's wisdom. Any wisdom is God's wisdom.

And so as you give God praise for the wisdom to gather it little by little, you
can also give him wisdom for the way he's going to show you how to use the little
by little that you've gathered to give honor to him. God has brought security
into your life. Thank him for that.

God wants to bring security into your life if you're struggling financially.
Thank him for that. It begins with gratitude.

Let's begin there. Let's talk to him right now. God, we thank you.

We thank you for what you have given us. Even if struggling financially, instead
of beginning at a point of struggle, God, we begin at a point of gratitude. And
thank you for what you have given us.

And God, it seems like if we just had more money, things would be okay. We'd be
able to solve this problem. We'd be able to help our kids.

We'd be able to have that house. We'd be able to be more secure. And so the
temptation comes to try to get it quickly.

God, deliver us from that temptation because it's going to disappear quickly. And
God, show us how instead to gather it little by little. It's going to take longer
than we'd like.

It might be more painful than we'd like. But God, your principle, your principle
will prove to be true. So give us the faith to live out that principle.

And if we've been living it out, give us the gratitude to recognize that it's
your principle. We thank you, our Father, in your name, amen.