When Fear Stores What Faith Should Hold
Introduction
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the things we hold onto — the things we save, store, and protect because we’re afraid of what might come. It started with food, and now my thoughts have turned toward money. It’s surprising how easily these everyday things reveal what is happening inside the heart.
Scripture
Luke 12:16–21 (NIV)
The Parable of the Rich Fool
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest.
17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones,
and there I will store my surplus grain.
19 And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of grain laid up for many years.
Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’”
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’”
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
Reflection
I had just finished writing a post about food when my mind drifted to money. I realized something: I treat money the same way I treat food. I store it. I tuck it away. I put extra into savings, 401Ks, investments — all with the hope that it will grow and protect me later.
Why do I do this?
If I’m honest, it’s fear.
Fear of the future.
Fear of not having enough.
Fear of what might happen.
As I sat with that, something Yeshua said came back to me. I couldn’t remember exactly where it was, so I looked it up — and there it was in Luke 12. And wow… reading the whole chapter felt like opening a treasure chest. There is so much there that I may need to write another post just on that chapter alone.
But the parable that came to mind was the Parable of the Rich Fool.
This man wasn’t evil. He wasn’t violent. He wasn’t immoral.
He was simply self‑focused.
He planned for himself, saved for himself, built for himself, and dreamed for himself.
And God called him a fool.
Not because he saved — but because he saved only for himself and was not
“rich toward God.”
That line hits me hard.
What has happened to us who call ourselves Christians? The very meaning of the word has been twisted. “Christian” means follower of Christ — someone who listens to the Spirit and obeys. Yet so often we follow our fears instead of His voice.
I keep thinking about the Quaker ways — their simplicity, their listening, their trust — and I truly believe their way of life points toward the Kingdom. A life uncluttered. A life attentive. A life surrendered.
Maybe the question isn’t, “How much should I save?”
Maybe the real question is, “Where is my trust?”
Connection to Today
We live in a world obsessed with storing, securing, and insulating ourselves from uncertainty. Bigger barns. Bigger accounts. Bigger safety nets.
But Yeshua invites us into something radically different:
A life where God is the security.
A life where generosity replaces fear.
A life where we are rich toward Him.
This isn’t about guilt — it’s about freedom.
Freedom from fear.
Freedom from self‑protection.
Freedom to live as citizens of the Kingdom.
Prayer
Father, teach me to trust You more than my fears.
Loosen my grip on the things I cling to for security.
Make me rich toward You — in love, in generosity, in obedience, and in faith.
Lead me into the simplicity and freedom of Your Kingdom.
Amen.
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