Be Thankful! 
No matter what we have, it’s so easy to complain about what we don’t have. If we would just stop focusing so much on what we don’t have, we can see the blessings of all that we do have, like family, friends, church, and even the physical things that God has previously blessed us with. Paul reminds us in Philippians that prayer with Thanksgiving is the key to eliminating our worry and anxiety. “Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.  And God’s peace which transcends all understanding shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” Phil 4:6.

Don’t stop giving! 
When we aren’t thankful for what we have, often times we’ll stop giving to our church and other charities when money is tight. In reality, generosity is what opens up our lives for God’s blessings.  I once heard a pastor say that if God can get money through you, he’ll get it to you. As Christians, we are blessed to be a blessing, but if we hoard all the money we have because we’re afraid that we don’t have enough, then we aren’t a blessing.  

Our church has recently been teaching on generosity and how difficult that is when we feel like we don’t have enough material resources. Our pastor showed us a website where you type in your income and it will show you how rich you are compared to the rest of the world: www.globalrichlist.com. The minimum wage in our area ranked in the 11^th percentile of the richest people in the world. When we realize just how wealthy we are in comparison to the rest of the world, how can we hold back from giving to others?

Do What You Can and Trust God to do the Rest
Having faith that God will supply our needs is extremely important, but God never promised to supply our wants exactly when we want them.  Just because God will provide during a time when money is scarce, doesn’t mean we should spend money the same way we did when money was plentiful. 

Beyond believing for increase, there are practical things we can do as well.  When money is tight in our family, we cut back on eating out and buying extra clothes and electronics that we don’t need.  We get creative and find more inexpensive ways to have fun and enjoy life.  If things get really tight you can cancel cable or magazine subscriptions or other monthly costs that aren’t necessary.  These cutbacks will help the money you do have go further and maybe even give you more quality time to spend with your family.  

God is full of wisdom and He wants to give that wisdom to us (James 1:5), but we need to be sure to listen to God’s wisdom and heed what He says to improve our financial situation. God may provide a new job for you, but most likely He won’t drop it in your lap while you’re watching TV. We need to do the work of looking for jobs, sending out resumes, putting forth effort and on God’s end, He’ll give us favor, but we have to make the first step.