Make It Happen or Trust God? (Proverbs 28:25)
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Proverbs 28:25
A greedy man stirs up strife,
but the one who trusts in the Lord will be enriched.
I really like this verse. I like it because it contrasts greed with trusting in the Lord. Huh. Isn’t that interesting. Contrasting greed with trust.
You know I think that shows us a lot. When one acts in greed, they’re acting in pride and self-interest. Greed isn’t just about wanting more — it’s about believing that what I have isn’t enough, and that God won’t come through. So I’ve got to take matters into my own hands.
And the verse here says ‘A greedy man stirs up strife’, and really our greed and our pride show no greater strife than with God Himself!
Our greed, and our pride, blocks our belief.
As in — it causes us to believe in ourselves, whether we’d admit it or not, for provision, and not God. And if any of you have lived long enough, and I believe you all have, we know that is foolish.
Our greed is a source of division with God. It blocks our ability to grow in intimacy with Him. And, though our greed more than likely is a means of desired gain, it doesn’t end that way. It ends in strife, meanwhile “the one who trusts in the Lord will be enriched”.
That means the one who trusts in God, can wait for their desires and their needs to be satisfied, cause no discord, be not separate from Him, and they will in fact be satisfied.
This exposes a lie that you and I have certainly believed from time to time which is that God won’t provide. And so what do we do? We go out and we try to make it happen ourselves. We get involved in different relationships that God did not have for us, different jobs, communities, you name it. All because we didn’t trust Him.
But “the one who trusts in the Lord will be enriched”. You know I’ll keep it a buck with you; that feels easy for me to say, given how great God has been to me recently. He has provided for me in ways that are just so unbelievably amazing.
But I know someone’s listening and life hasn’t been that way. You might feel like you have trusted in the Lord and yet to describe your life as ‘enriching’ would not be the word you’d use.
So what do we do with that?
Well — remember this: enrichment doesn’t always look like ease. Sometimes it looks like peace in the middle of uncertainty. Sometimes it’s strength to keep going when your prayers feel unanswered.
But the promise is still real. He is still good. And He still sees you.
And maybe you’ve been doing everything you can just to stay afloat — trying to hold it all together — because deep down, you’re not sure God will.
But what if trust in Him isn’t weakness, but wisdom? What if that’s actually where true rest begins?
So let me ask you today:
Where in your life are you tempted to “make it happen yourself” instead of trusting God to provide?
What would it look like to surrender that fear today — not just theoretically, but in one specific decision or desire?
Let’s pray.
