The Bible is clear that money and geography are inseparably tied together. Your financial success is directly connected to your geography. And financial provision is related to your assignment, doing what God has called you to do. Financial provision is an incentive for obedience: for doing what you were created to do and being where God has called you to be. In fact the Lord often uses the lack of provision to motivate us to keep moving toward what He has called us to do and where He has called us to be.
Money and geography are tied to obedience. Your assignment is not just to either one specific person (like Joshua was assigned to serve Moses) or a specific group of people (like Moses was assigned to serve the Children of Israel). But, your assignment is to a specific place or in a specific place (and God may lead you to different specific places throughout your life. It may be general like being called to a nation, province, or state, or specific as to a city or neighborhood.
As Mike Murdock wrote in his book 7 Decisions That Will Decide Your Success, “You will only succeed in the center of your assignment. It is possible for a sinner to be in the center of their assignment. It is also possible for a Christian to fail at recognizing his own assignment…..Your assignment is geographical….God made places before he made people….Your success is connected to a place….Your assignment is to a place….You will flourish when you are in the center of where God assigns you…Money does not follow you. Money is waiting for you at the place of your assignment. Money is the scriptural incentive for obedience….Divine provision is only guaranteed at the place of your assignment….Money is geographical.”
Money and geography are tied to your assignment.
If Plants Could Talk
Consider plants. Every plant thrives or dies based on its location. Every plant has needs and requirements. In their native environment they require specific conditions to thrive: a certain amount of daylight, direct sunshine, humidity, rain, cold or heat, and pH of the soil. Some plants for example like the Lodgepole Pine Tree grow abundantly from the Arctic Circle throughout Western Canada and the Western United States. Other plants like the exquisite and rare Jade Vine, native to the Philippines, only grow in one specific area of the world.
The Bible indicates in two passages that we are like trees:
They will be like a tree planted near a stream whose roots spread out toward the water. It has nothing to fear when the heat comes. Its leaves are always green. It has no need to be concerned in a year of drought. It does not stop bearing fruit. (Jeremiah 17:8 NET).
He is like a tree planted by flowing streams; it yields its fruit at the proper time, and its leaves never fall off. He succeeds in everything he attempts. (Psalm 1:3 NET)
If trees need specific conditions to grow, why wouldn’t we? And, I am not just referring to spiritual factors although, those are necessary. For example the prefaces in both these verses indicates the keys for thriving, producing fruit in all seasons, and succeeding in all that we attempt to do. The key in Jeremiah is to put our trust in God and our confidence in Him. The key in Psalms is to find pleasure in obeying the Lord’s commands and meditate on His commands day and night. It is clear that our success in life starts with these things. However, there is more that we need to consider.
When Your Financial Stream Dries Up it’s Time to Get Moving
Elijah was a man led by God. He was a prophet who not only heard God speak but spoke on his behalf to widows and kings. In fact he prophesied to the wicked King Ahab of a terrible drought. And immediately after that, with his life in danger, the Lord led him to hide in the wilderness beside a brook. Supernaturally, ravens brought him meat each morning and evening, and he drank from a stream. Then after awhile the stream dried up because of the drought and the Lord told Elijah to go to a specific town where a widow would provide for him.
One of the most poignant lessons of this story is that when your brook or financial stream dries up it’s probably time to get movin’. God used the lack of water to get Elijah’s attention. God will use, if he hasn’t already, your lack of water, food, and financial resources to get your attention.
God led Elijah multiple times through difficult conditions (famine and enemy territory) and provided for him. Notice he was led by faith one step at a time:
- Elijah obeys the Lord and prophesies to Ahab that there will be no rain until he gives the command.
- God says, “Go and hide in the Kerith Valley, near the Jordan Brook. Drink from the stream. I have already told the ravens to provide for you.”
- God says, “Go to Zarephath, in Sidonian Territory, and live there. I have already told a widow who lives there to provide for you.”
- Three years after the famine God says, “Go to Ahab, so that I may send rain.”
Now as a caveat, let me assure you that I understand that not every place the Lord leads us will result in “prosperity”. The Lord is more focused on building character in us and training us to be able to handle the influence and responsibility that he desires for us than just prospering us financially. For example he often leads us like He did the Children of Israel, through the desert, a place of testing. But, as I have detailed in a previous post, the Lord desires for us to thrive; His ultimate desire is to lead us into The Promised Land.
Notice that in the story of Elijah “prospering” meant surviving when many others did not. Elijah’s provision was directly correlated to his geography. He had to hide from Ahab to save his life. Then he had to find a specific widow who would provide food for him in a drought. Remember, you have to learn how to survive before you can learn to thrive. Sadly, many Christians never move beyond financial survival, because they don’t understand how money and geography are connected.
The Lord Who Teaches You to Profit
The Bible clearly says that God is invested in our success. In fact, He is so invested that He tells us (in one of my favorite verses) that He will personally teach us to profit AND personally be our guide throughout the amazing, and adventurous journey of life.
I am the Lord your God that teaches you to profit —and leads you in the way that you should go. (Isaiah 48:17)
After Jesus’ resurrection, His disciples went out fishing. But, they caught nothing all night. When the sun rose, Jesus was standing on the beach, but they didn’t recognize him.
Jesus spoke to them: “Good morning! Did you catch anything for breakfast?”
They answered, “No.”
He said, “Throw the net off the right side of the boat and see what happens.”
They did what he said. All of a sudden there were so many fish in it, they weren’t strong enough to pull it in. (John 21:4-6 MSG)
Money and Geography are Inseparable
Jesus was concerned about their breakfast. And he wanted them to profit as fishermen. So, He told them to change their geography. When they obeyed and did what he said, the disciples ended up with so many fish that they couldn’t even pull the net into their boat.
Who has God called you to serve? Where has He called you to serve? Money and geography are directly connected to your assignment. You will find financial provision in that place.
Your prosperity is geographical. Money and geography are inseparable.
Image retrieved from Pixaby and released under Creative Commons CC0
